MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME SOFTBALL

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Alison Rollins Field, Buzzards Bay, Mass.

GAME #1 FINAL:          MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 9, PINE MANOR 8

GAME #2 FINAL:          MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 11, PINE MANOR 7

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. --  Sophomore Carli Thomas (Brewster, Mass.) and freshman Emily Goodwin (Halifax, Mass.) each collected four hits and drove in three runs to lead Massachusetts Maritime to a sweep of a non-league college softball doubleheader from Pine Manor Thursday afternoon by scores of 9-8 in the opener and 11-7 in the nightcap in games played at Alison Rollins Field.

The host Buccaneers (5-21) took a 1-0 first inning lead in the opener on Goodwin’s RBI single, and Massachusetts Maritime took advantage of an error, a sacrifice fly by sophomore Sarah Monteiro (North Falmouth, Mass.) and a steal of home by Thomas to take a 5-0 edge.  The visiting Gators (9-16) crept back to within two in the third on a two-run double by freshman Amber Schuman that was followed by an RBI single off the bat of senior Vanessa Soto, and after Pine Manor closed to within one at 5-4 in the fifth on freshman Ashley Huber’s solo home run (her seventh of the season), the Buccaneers plated a pair of in the bottom of the frame on sophomore Emily Bacchiocchi’s (Wareham, Mass.) run-scoring single and an RBI groundout from sophomore Olivia Norton (Quincy, Mass.) to regain a three-run cushion.  The hosts added two key insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth on Thomas’s third home run of the spring (a solo shot to left) and a Goodwin RBI double to take a 9-4 advantage into the final inning, as the Gators received a Schuman RBI single that was followed by a three-run homer off the bat of sophomore Ashley Whiteshield (her third of the year) that pulled the visitors to within one.  Thomas fanned the final two batters of the game to end the threat and give Massachusetts Maritime its opening triumph.

Freshman Rachel Gardner (Bourne, Mass.) rapped out four hits as part of a 15-hit attack in the lid-lifter for the Buccaneers, who also received three hits from Goodwin.  Thomas helped her own cause with three hits at the plate for Massachusetts Maritime, as she struck out eight in going the distance to earn her fourth win of the season inside the circle.  Huber paced a seven-hit Pine Manor attack in the opener with two hits, as Schuman added two safeties at the plate while allowing four earned runs and striking out three to fall to 5-9 on the spring.

Pine Manor struck for a run in its opening at-bat of the nightcap on senior Chardonai Rose’s RBI single, and the Gators received a bases loaded walk to sophomore Cadejia Matthews-Austin and a sacrifice fly from Huber to extend that margin to 3-0 in the second.  A bases loaded walk to freshman Brittny Desmond gave the visitors a 4-0 edge in the third, but Massachusetts Maritime took advantage of a Monteiro sacrifice fly, a wild pitch and a run-scoring double by Gardner to close back to within one in the bottom of the frame.  The Buccaneers took control of the second contest with an eight-run outburst in the bottom of the fourth highlighted by a pair of RBI singles by senior Cassie Sanderson (North Dighton, Mass.) and sophomore Kaylene Murphy (Randolph, Mass.), an RBI triple from Goodwin, a two-run single by Monteiro, a two-run two-bagger from Thomas and a bases loaded walk to freshman Brooke Miles (Lynn, Mass.).  The visitors accounted for the final score with three sixth inning tallies that came on a wild pitch, a Rose RBI triple and Schuman’s run-scoring single, as the hosts took three of the four contests played from Pine Manor this season.

Seven different players accounted for hits in the nightcap triumph for Massachusetts Maritime, as Monteiro and Thomas combined for five RBI in the second contest.  Thomas again went the distance inside the circle for the Buccaneers, as she fanned five to pick up her fifth win of the spring.  Rose, Schuman and Whiteshield each had two of the Gators’ seven nightcap hits, as Huber went the first three frames inside the circle to fall to 3-4 overall for Pine Manor. 

Massachusetts Maritime hosts Westfield State in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Alison Rollins Field beginning at Noon, while Pine Manor heads to Newton, Mass. tomorrow afternoon for a non-league twinbill with Lasell that begins at 3:00 p.m.