SOFTBALL DOWNS SUFFOLK 9-1 TO ADVANCE TO FIRST-EVER GNAC CHAMPIONSHIP
EAST BOSTON, Mass. – After falling earlier in the day to Johnson & Wales University, the Emmanuel College softball team rebounded for a 9-1 victory over No. 1 seeded Suffolk University at East Boston Memorial Park to advance to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference tournament championship for the first time in program history. The loss ends the Rams record-setting season with a 33-9 mark, a new program-record for wins in a single-season. EC improves to 26-16 overall, also the program’s highest win total in its’ history.
EAST BOSTON, Mass. – After falling earlier in the day to Johnson & Wales University, the Emmanuel College softball team rebounded for a 9-1 victory over No. 1 seeded Suffolk University at East Boston Memorial Park to advance to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference tournament championship for the first time in program history. The loss ends the Rams record-setting season with a 33-9 mark, a new program-record for wins in a single-season. EC improves to 26-16 overall, also the program's highest win total in its' history.
The Saints nearly held Suffolk scoreless with the Rams' lone run coming in the top of the sixth inning before Emmanuel ended the contest with an eight-run lead after a producing four runs in the bottom half of the sixth.
Senior shortstop Catherine Davis (Wethersfield, Conn.) scored the game's first run in the bottom of the first before Suffolk pitcher Ali Yamakaitis walked in Abbey Alexiades (Kingston, Mass.) to help the Saints take an early 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the second, EC freshman designated player Ashley Skey (Brookline, N.H.) singled to right center, knocking home Davis yet again to make it 3-0.
Freshman catcher Casey Sheehan (Medway, Mass.) and Alexiades combined for back-to-back homers in the bottom of the fourth inning to give Emmanuel a 5-0 cushion.
The Rams' solo score came in the top of the sixth inning with freshman Jill Pulek sending in Devlin Frost on an RBI single. In the bottom half of the inning, Skey tallied another RBI single to send in pinch runner Catherine Edmonds (Acton, Mass.), giving the Saints a 6-1 lead.
Rookie centerfielder Olivia Burgos (Newington, Conn.) went on to notch an RBI and score freshman Briana Ong (Coventry, R.I.) before a single by freshman left fielder Megan Kieselback (Wethersfield, Conn.) sent in Emmanuel's eighth and ninth runs of the night in junior Susie Kieselback (Wethersfield, Conn.) and freshman Elysa Moretti (Cranston, R.I.) to seal the 9-1 win at the end of six innings with an eight-run lead.
Junior pitcher Jill Kilcoyne (Worcester, Mass.) earned the win for the Saints, her 18th of the season. She scattered seven hits while striking out three to bring her season total to a GNAC-leading 203 K's on the year, the single-season program record at Emmanuel. Yamakaitis recorded just her fifth loss of the year for the Rams.
Emmanuel will go on to play Johnson & Wales in the 2016 GNAC Tournament Championship Sunday morning at 10 a.m. The Saints will need to beat the Wildcats twice to secure the title due to the double-elimination format of the tournament. Earlier this season, the Saints swept the Wildcats in the regular-season doubleheader, topping JWU 3-2 and 9-8 on Sunday, April 10.
*Release content provided courtesy of Suffolk University Sports Information Dept.