Tine Provides Extra Inning Heroics, Sherman, Thibeault Each Collect Four Hits As Softball Sweeps Wheelock

MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME SOFTBALL

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Alison Rollins Field, Buzzards Bay, Mass.

GAME #1 FINAL:                   MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 5, WHEELOCK 4 (8 INNINGS)

                                                  123          456          78                        R             H             E

Wheelock (0-1)                         010          000          30        -               4              8              4

Massachusetts Maritime (1-6)  000          120          11        -               5              10            0

BATTERIES

WHL:       Nicole Perullo and Molly Rose

MMA:       Janelle Beaulieu and Holly McLaughlin

WP:         Beaulieu (1-3)         LP:           Perullo (0-1)

GAME #2 FINAL:                   MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 10, WHEELOCK 1 (5 INNINGS)

                                                   123          45                               R             H             E

Wheelock (0-2)                          000          01               -               1              1              0

Massachusetts Maritime (2-6)    028          0x              -               10            3              0

BATTERIES

WHL:       Ashley Quan, Nicole Perullo (3) and Molly Rose

MMA:       Jennifer March and Holly McLaughlin

WP:         March (1-3)            LP:           Quan (0-1)

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. --  Sophomore Amanda Tine’s (Chelmsford, Mass.) RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning lifted Massachusetts Maritime to a come-from-behind 5-4 victory over Wheelock in the opening game of a non-league college softball doubleheader Thursday afternoon at Alison Rollins Field, and the host Buccaneers used an eight-run third inning rally in the nightcap to complete the twinbill sweep with a 10-1 triumph.

Massachusetts Maritime (2-6) forged a 1-1 fourth inning tie in the opener on an RBI double by freshman Meghan Weir (North Andover, Mass.) after the visiting Wildcats (0-2) had opened the scoring in the second on a run-scoring double off the bat of senior Nicole Perullo (Revere, Mass.).  Freshman Meghan O’Brien’s (Southampton, Mass.) two-run single in the bottom of the fifth snapped the deadlock and gave the hosts a 3-1 cushion, but Wheelock pulled to within a run on an RBI single by junior Kim Perault (Medford, Mass.) with one out in the seventh and took a 4-3 lead on Perullo’s two-run safety with two outs in the frame.  The Buccaneers evened matters with two outs in the bottom of the seventh when junior Meghan Thibeault (Scituate, Mass.) singled and scored on a three-base error, and Massachusetts Maritime’s winning rally in the eighth began with a walk to Weir that was followed by a double off the bat of sophomore Crystal Sherman (Charlton, Mass.) to put runners at second and third.  One out later, Tine delivered a single to left that plated Weir with the deciding tally to cap the hosts’ comeback.

Thibeault rapped out three of the hosts’ 10 hits in the opening victory in support of junior Janelle Beaulieu (Buzzards Bay, Mass.), who struck out a career-high 12 in going the distance to earn the triumph inside the circle.  Perullo, Perault, junior Sara Buscemi (Arlington, Mass.) and freshman Molly Rose (Weymouth, Mass.) each had two hits to account for all eight Wheelock safeties in the opener, as Perullo allowed a pair of earned runs and struck out five to suffer the setback.

Sherman’s two run double in the bottom of the second staked the Buccaneers to a 2-0 lead in the nightcap, and Massachusetts Maritime took advantage of six consecutive walks, along with a two-run double by Thibeault and a two-run single by senior Holly McLaughlin (Belmont, Mass.), to amass its eight-run third inning rally.  Buscemi plated the lone Wildcat run in the nightcap on a fielder’s choice groundout by junior Ashley Quan (Belmont, Mass.) to account for the final score.  Sherman drove in a career-high three runs in the second contest for the hosts, as O’Brien, Weir and Beaulieu each received bases loaded walks for the Buccaneers, who collected three hits but took advantage of 12 free passes.  Sophomore Jennifer March (Pawtucket, R.I.) allowed only a fourth inning single by Perault in going the distance to earn her first collegiate victory for Massachusetts Maritime, as she struck out a career-high eight.  Quan suffered the setback inside the circle for Wheelock, allowing eight runs over the first 2 1/3 innings of work.

Massachusetts Maritime hosts UMass Dartmouth in a non-league doubleheader on Friday afternoon at Alison Rollins Field beginning at 3:00 p.m., while Wheelock heads to Chicopee, Mass. on Saturday afternoon for a New England Collegiate Conference doubleheader with Elms that begins at Noon.