Grady Walk-Off Single Helps Lasell Sweep Lesley in Softball
NEWTON, Mass. (3/25/14)- The Lasell College Softball team swept non-conference opponent Lesley University, taking game one 7-5 and game two 3-2 in eight innings on Tuesday afternoon. The Lasers improved to 7-3 on the season, while the visiting Lynx fell to 1-11 this year.
Game One - Lasell 7 - Lesley 5
Eileen Bergin (Arlington, Mass.) had a pair of singles, two runs scored and one knocked in while twirling a complete game in the circle to earn the victory. Bergin threw all seven innings, yielding five runs on eight hits and fanning nine in the game. Nicole LeBlanc (Easton, Mass.) finished with a double, single and a walk for the Lasers, with a pair of runs scored while Santina Antoshak (Closter, N.J.) added a double and a run driven in and Emily Noll (Weymouth, Mass.) doubled and scored a run as well.
Mekenzi Golden (Laguna Nigul, Calif.) powered the Lynx attack with a three run homerun and a sacrifice fly to drive in four runs in the game. Maria Nazzaro (No. Reading, Mass.) and Alyson Nisbet (Clovis, Calif.) each singled twice while Nazzaro added a run scored and one driven in. Nisbet took the loss for Lesley, throwing six innings and allowing seven runs, only three earned on 10 hits.
The Lasers began the scoring in the bottom of the third inning when Courtney Moen (Brookfield, Mass.) reached on a two-out single, coming all the way around to score on a single by Bergin who moved to second when Lesley attempted to throw Moen out at the plate. LeBlanc walked and Denise Archetto (Cranston, R.I.) reached on an error that allowed Bergin to come across the plate giving Lasell a 2-0 lead. Lasell added four runs in the bottom half of the fourth on an RBI single from Michaelea Grady (Worcester, Mass.), a run scoring double from Antoshak and a two run double from LeBlanc to take a 6-0 lead.
Lesley tallied their first hit of the game in the top of the fifth inning to deny Bergin a chance for her second no-hit bid of the season but failed to score, heading into the home half of the fifth trailing 6-0. Lasell added one more in the bottom half of the fifth when Noll led off with a double, coming in to score when Molly Pritchett (Lebanon, Maine) followed with a single to make it a 7-0 lead.
Sarah Apgar (Andover, N.J.) led off the top of the sixth with a walk and a stolen base before coming in to score on a single by Nazzaro to get the visitors on the scoreboard. A walk to Angela Mukaki (Amherst, N.H.) put a pair of runners on setting up Golden's three-run homer over the left field fence that made it a 7-4 game. Lesley loaded the bases with three straight singles before Bergin bounced back with a strikeout and a flyout to escape the bases loaded jam. Lesley continued to push in the top of the seventh, opening the inning with consecutive singles before loading the bases with nobody out on a walk. Mukaki flew out to centerfield scoring a run to make it 7-5, but Bergin again battled back getting a fly-out and groundout to escape the jam and earn the victory.
Game Two- Lasell 3 - Lesley 2 (Eight Innings)
Lasell captured the extra inning victory on a walk-off single by junior Michaelea Grady that drove in Nicole LeBlanc to propel Lasell to a sweep of the twinbill. Grady scored a run of her own in addition to her game-winning RBI, LeBlanc singled twice while knocking in the tying run in the eighth inning before scoring the game-winner. Krystal Enko (Haydenville, Mass.) went eight innings on the slab for Lasell to earn the win, allowing two runs, both unearned on five singles while striking out four.
Angela Mukai singled twice and recorded an RBI for the Lynx, Maria Nazzaro added two singles and a run scored and Mekenzi Golden had an RBI single in the contest. Jordan Thomas (Fitchburg, Mass.) pitched seven and two-thirds innings, giving up nine hits and three runs, two earned while striking out a pair in the contest.
Maria Nazzaro recorded a single in the top of the first inning for the visitors, and came around to score on a groundout to the pitcher by Mekenzi Golden giving the Lynx a 1-0 at the end of the first. Denise Archetto came to the plate with the bases loaded in the third and singled to right field scoring Santina Antoshak knotting the score at one a piece at the end of the third inning.
The scoring stayed quiet until the eighth inning when Angela Mukai singled in Sarah Apgar to take a 2-1 lead going to the bottom half of the inning. Nicole LeBlanc evened the score at 2-2 when she singled in Eileen Bergin and starting a rally for the Lasers. Grady came up with two outs and LeBlanc on second to deliver the game winning single, giving the Lasers a 3-2 victory in eight innings.
Lesley University returns to the field on Thursday March, 27 when they travel to Framingham State College for a double-header at 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. The Lasers open their GNAC Conference schedule when they host Rivier University on Friday March, 28 for games at 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.