Conti Blasts Walk-Off HR in 10th to Lift Saints Over Simmons in GNAC Tourney, 2-1

THE BASICS 
Emmanuel College, 2 – Simmons University, 1 (10 inn.)

Records: 
Emmanuel Saints (25-10)
Simmons Sharks (25-12-1)

Location: Boston, Mass. – Roberto Clemente Field

Date: Thursday, May 5, 2022

THE LEAD – Sophomore shortstop Olivia Conti (Cranston, R.I.) blasted a walk-off solo home run in the 10^th inning to lift Emmanuel College to a 2-1 win over Simmons University in the 2022 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Softball tournament Thursday evening at Roberto Clemente Field in Boston, Mass.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• With the game knotted at 1-1 and one out in the 10^th inning, Conti worked the count to 2-2, fouling off several pitches before belting a fastball on the outside half of the plate to dead centerfield for her team-leading 12^th homer of the season to send the Saints home with the 2-1 walk-off win.
• Emmanuel opened the scoring in the second to jump ahead 1-0 on an RBI single to center by first year outfielder Abigail Farr (Windsor Locks, Conn.), plating senior Grace Orcutt (Lexington, Mass.) who reached via an infield single earlier in the frame.
• EC junior pitcher Tianna Dawe (Peabody, Mass.) was in control throughout the evening, keeping the Sharks off the board through the first five innings behind a strong defensive effort from the Saints.
• Simmons evened the score at 1-1 with a leadoff blast to right-center by senior shortstop Allie Mulhern (Westford, Mass.) and later in the inning, the Sharks put runners on first and second with a pair of singles but Dawe was able to work out of the jam and preserve the tie score.
• EC threatened in the bottom half of the sixth, putting the first two runners on but Simmons senior hurler Maddie Castigliego (Bristol, R.I.) thwarted the threat in a gutsy outing all around.
• The Saints had the best chance in extras as junior Maegan Amsler (Hanover, Mass.) led off the ninth with a single up the middle and moved over to second on a sac bunt before Castigliego avoided any further damaged to set the stage for Conti's 10^th inning heroics.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Dawe went the distance tossing 10.0 innings for the win to improve to 14-5 on the year. The junior scattered eight hits and allowed just the one run while striking out four.
• Castigliego (24-12) was the tough-luck loser, working 9.1 innings and surrendering two runs on seven hits to go along with three K's.
• Simmons sophomore outfielder Jordyn Rubin (Lewiston, Maine) was the only player for either side to record multiple hits on the game, going 2-for-4 at the plate.
• The Saints improve to 32-26 all-time vs. the Sharks and have now won the last seven meetings.
• The win was the 100^th career Head Coaching victory for EC skipper Olivia Berry, marking the only coach in program history to reach the milestone.

UP NEXT

• The Saints will take on Johnson & Wales University on Saturday, May 7 at 3:00 PM in the all-important winner's bracket finale. The winner of this contest advances to the GNAC Championship series on Sunday unscathed with two chances to win the title the following day.
• Simmons is still alive in the field and will take on the University of Saint Joseph (CT) at 12:30 PM on Saturday in an elimination game at Clemente Field. The Blue Jays fell in their opening game of the tourney to JWU in extra innings by 1-0 (8inn.) final.