SOFTBALL TEAM WRAPS SEASON WITH PAIR OF LOSSES TO JWU
April 21, 2012
BOSTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College Softball Team played
its final games of the 2012 season in Saturday afternoon’s
Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) double-header with
Johnson & Wales University at Roberto Clemente Field. The
Saints took the Wildcats into extra innings in the opener, before
falling 7-6 in eight innings. JWU took game two handily,
winning 7-0 and improving to 26-14, 19-7 GNAC. Emmanuel ends
its season at 7-32, 4-22 GNAC.
The Saints jumped out to an early lead, scoring three runs in the
bottom of the first. Sophomore shortstop Julia Levins
(Uxbridge, Mass.) and classmate Jennifer Garrity
(Lynn, Mass.) each got on with walks. Junior Kelly Lloid
(Issaquah, Wash.) followed with an RBI single and sophomore third
baseman Kayla
Howard (Belmont, N.H.) loaded the bases with a hit of her
own. Freshman Alexandra
Bressette (North Easton, Mass.) was hit by a pitch and another
run scored for the Saints, giving Emmanuel a 3-0 lead.
After holding Wildcats scoreless, despite giving up three hits in
the first two innings, the Saints tacked on two more runs in the
second. Levins singled and was driven in by Garrity’s
single. Lloid recorded her second RBI hit of the game,
sending Garrity across the plate and Emmanuel went up 5-0.
Johnson & Wales sophomore pitcher Taylor Cwalinski (Jackson,
N.J.) struck out the side in the third and Emmanuel went down 1-2-3
in the fourth. Meanwhile, the Wildcats would get on the
scoreboard in the third and then add on four more runs in the
fourth to tie the game at 5-all.
Senior centerfielder Korissa Bailey (Pelham, N.H.) kicked off the
third with a lead-off homer to left-center field, bringing the
spread to 5-1. Three Wildcat singles in the fourth, including
hits by Amy Fish (Oxford, Mass.), Robyn Ziegler (Doylestown, Pa.)
and Kaleigh Richardson (Meredith, N.H.), cut the JWU deficit to 5-2
and set the stage for heroics from Wildcat sophomore Tayla Gardner
(Orangeburg, N.Y.). Gardner pinch hit in the top of the
fourth and smashed a three-run homer to right center field,
knotting the contest at 5-all.
Scoreless ball was played through the fifth, sixth and seventh, as
the Saints were held hitless and the Wildcats notched just one
single in the top of the sixth. With the game knotted at 5-5,
the contest was sent into extra innings.
With the international tie-breaker in effect, the Wildcats opened
the eighth with a runner on second. Olivia England (Natick,
Mass.) singled and Fish reached on a fielder’s choice to load
the bases. With one out, Alyssa Babineau (Princeton, Mass.)
hit a single to right, which scored two runs and the Wildcats went
up, 7-5.
In the bottom of the side, Jessica Dold
(Medfield, Mass.) kicked things off for the Saints by stealing
third on the first pitch of the inning. Howard drove her home
with a two-out single up the middle, but Emmanuel would come no
closer and the game ended with the Wildcats holding on for the 7-6
win in eight innings.
Cwalinski earned the win for the visitors, giving up six hits and
fanning 13 batters and walking two. Lloid took the loss for
the Saints, after coming in to relieve Garrity in the third.
Lloid gave up eight hits and struck out five, while Garrity gave up
four hits in her two innings pitched.
GAME
TWO:
After playing the opener at shortstop, Levins went to the circle
and struck out the side to open the nightcap. JWU sophomore
Kelsey Dunn (Silver Spring, Md.) reached on an outfield error in
the top of the second and then was driven home on a single by Fish,
as the Wildcats went up, 1-0.
The Saints were held scoreless through three, but JWU posted a
three-hit inning in the fourth to go up, 2-0. Cwalinski led
off with a double and was driven in on a single by Gardner.
England also singled in the frame for the visitors.
The Saints were held to just one-hit through six, going down 1-2-3
in the third, fourth and fifth, as Gardner struck out five over the
three-inning stretch. JWU added to their total in the top of
the fifth, when Cwalinski ripped her second double of the contest
and drove in Arti Patel (Bernardsville, N.J.), and the Wildcats
held a 3-0 advantage.
A pair of singles by Patel and Cwalinski opened the seventh for
JWU, before Dunn doubled to drive in Patel. Gardner then
drove in Cwalinski and England hit a two-out two-run homer to left
center giving the Wildcats the 7-0 win.
Gardner earned her 10th win of the season, going the distance in
the circle and striking out 8 and giving up just two hits.
Levins took the loss for the Saints, but struck out 5 Wildcats in
the effort.
The Wildcats will now wait to hear about their seeding and pairing
for the upcoming GNAC Tournament.