Softball Closes Out MASCAC Slate By Dropping League Doubleheader Decision At Westfield State

MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME SOFTBALL

Friday, April 28, 2017

Alumni Field, Westfield, Mass.

GAME #1 FINAL:          WESTFIELD STATE 8, MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 0 (5 INNINGS)

GAME #2 FINAL:          WESTFIELD STATE 11, MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 0 (5 INNINGS)

WESTFIELD, Mass. --  Three Westfield State pitchers combined to allow four hits and strike out seven batters en route to a sweep of a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference softball doubleheader from Massachusetts Maritime by scores of 8-0 in the opener and 11-0 in the nightcap in five inning contests played Friday afternoon at Alumni Field.

Senior Emma Dunbar (Weymouth, Mass.) rapped out three hits and drove in four runs in the lid-lifter for the host Owls (17-16, 11-3 MASCAC), who plated all of their runs in the first three innings of action.  Junior Angelica Banning (East Granby, Conn.) also collected two hits as part of a 12-hit attack for the winners, who received RBI from seniors Liz Kelly (Quincy, Mass.) and Erika Gouin (Hampden, Mass.), junior Maddy Atkocaitis (Westfield, Mass.) and sophomore Julia Hebert (Auburn, Mass.).  Sophomore Sarah Eugenio (Marshfield, Mass.) took care of the rest on the mound for Westfield State, as she allowed two hits and a walk over four frames to improve to 10-1 on the season.  Juniors Carli Thomas (Brewster, Mass.) and Elizabeth Bramhall (Plymouth, Mass.), along with freshman Madison Ovadek (Greenland, N.H.), collected hits in the opening setback for the visiting Buccaneers (5-17, 0-14 MASCAC), as freshman Jenna Nalette (Goffstown, N.H.) allowed four earned runs over the first three innings to take the loss inside the circle.

Senior Julia Sullivan (West Barnstable, Mass.) came within one out of a perfect game in the nightcap for the Owls, as she retired the first 14 batters before sophomore Hannah Benton (Hyannis, Mass.) broke things up with a two-out fifth inning single for Massachusetts Maritime.  Sullivan, who helped her own cause by driving in a pair of runs at the plate, struck out four to earn her seventh win of the season for Westfield State, which received a first inning grand slam from Atkocaitis as well as two RBI from sophomore Caitlin Hughes (Hanson, Mass.).  Hebert, senior Sydney Ezold (Westfield, Mass.) and sophomore Karly Mastello (Russell, Mass.) chipped in with two hits each for the hosts, who rapped out 11 hits in the second contest.  Thomas suffered the setback inside the circle for the Buccaneers, as she tossed the first two frames for the visitors.

Massachusetts Maritime hosts Pine Manor in a non-league doubleheader on Monday afternoon at Alison Rollins Field beginning at 3:00 p.m., while Westfield State has clinched the second seed in next week’s MASCAC Championships and will host a quarterfinal round game next Friday afternoon at Alumni Field that begins at 3:30 p.m.