April 21, 2012

Box Score

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.