MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME SOFTBALL

Thursday, April 20, 2016

Alison Rollins Field, Buzzards Bay, Mass.

GAME #1 FINAL:          WHEELOCK 8, MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 7

GAME #2 FINAL:          MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 10, WHEELOCK 4

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. --  Sophomore Carli Thomas (Brewster, Mass.) helped her own cause with three hits and five RBI, including a sixth inning grand slam, to lead Massachusetts Maritime to a 10-4 nightcap victory and a split of a non-league college softball doubleheader with Wheelock Thursday afternoon at Alison Rollins Field.  The visiting Wildcats used a three-run rally in the sixth inning to claim an 8-7 triumph in the opening contest.

The host Buccaneers (3-17) took a 3-1 first inning lead in the second game on an RBI double by freshman Rachel Gardner (Bourne, Mass.) and a run-scoring single by sophomore Emily Bacchiocchi (Wareham, Mass.) that sandwiched an RBI triple off the bat of freshman Emily Goodwin (Halifax, Mass.), but the visiting Wildcats (6-20) closed back to within a run in the third on an error.  A Thomas RBI single and an error extended Massachusetts Maritime’s edge to 5-2 in the fifth, and after Wheelock sliced its deficit to one in the sixth on senior Katie Fleming’s (West Boylston, Mass.) run-scoring double and an error, the hosts iced their triumph in the bottom of the frame on sophomore Kaylene Murphy’s (Randolph, Mass.) RBI single and Thomas’s grand slam to left center (her first homer of the season).

Bacchiocchi collected a pair of hits as part of a nine-hit nightcap attack for the Buccaneers, as Thomas allowed an earned run and struck out seven in going the distance for her third win of the spring inside the circle.  Freshman Dominique DelBene (Peabody, Mass.) rapped out two of the Wildcats’ eight second game hits, as sophomore Emma Spencer (Thomaston, Maine) helped her own cause with three hits at the plate while fanning five in going the distance inside the circle for the visitors.

Wheelock jumped out to a 4-0 second inning lead in the opener on the strength of RBI singles by Spencer, DelBene and sophomore Rachael Simpson (Littleton, Mass.), and the Wildcats extended that margin to 5-0 in the third on Spencer’s second run-scoring single of the contest.  A Goodwin RBI groundout that was followed by Bacchiocchi’s run-scoring double sliced Massachusetts Maritime’s deficit to 5-2 in the bottom of the third, and the Buccaneers took a 6-5 lead with a four-run fifth inning rally highlighted by Goodwin’s three-run triple and Bacchiocchi’s RBI groundout.  The visitors struck back with three runs in the sixth to take the lead for good on RBI singles by junior Maggie Doyle (Kingston, Mass.) and freshman Shannon Creedon (Woodstock, Conn.) that followed a run-scoring fielder’s choice by Fleming, and the hosts got a run back in their final at-bat on Bacchiocchi’s RBI double while proceeding to load the bases with one out.  Spencer induced a pop-up and a game-ending fielder’s choice to end the threat to give the Wildcats their opening game triumph.

DelBene also collected two hits as part of an eight-hit opening game attack for Wheelock, as Spencer again helped her own cause with two hits while striking out three inside the circle for her sixth victory of the season.  Bacchiocchi and Goodwin combined for five hits and seven RBI as part of a 14-hit attack in the lid-lifter for Massachusetts Maritime, which also received two hits each from sophomores Sarah Monteiro (North Falmouth, Mass.) and Haley Delahanty (Holden, Mass.) as well as freshman Brooke Miles (Lynn, Mass.).  Thomas, who added two hits and finished the twinbill with five overall, allowed three earned runs and fanned four in suffering the setback inside the circle for the Buccaneers.

Massachusetts Maritime heads to Framingham, Mass. on Saturday afternoon to take on Framingham State in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m., while Wheelock hosts Bay Path in a New England Collegiate Conference twinbill on Saturday afternoon in Chestnut Hill, Mass. that begins at Noon.