(Courtesy of Endicott Sports Information)
BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott College softball team picked up a 7-0 victory in game one of a doubleheader with the Wentworth Institute of Technology, but game two ended in a tie between the two teams, 4-4, as the game was halted due to darkness in the top of the seventh. With the win, the Gulls improve to 23-10-1 overall and 16-5-1 in the TCCC while the Leopards drop to 11-23-1 overall and 4-17-1 in league games.
In game one, Jenna Bortolotti (Milton, Mass.) picked up her 15th-consecutive victory by going seven innings, scattering four hits and striking out three. Bortolotti got all the offense she needed in the bottom of the second inning as the Gulls scored their first run on a throwing error by Lizz Harvey (McConnellsburg, Pa.) that allowed Nicole Devlin (Dudley, Mass.) to score from third. Christine Calligan (Norwood, Mass.) and Jenna Lazar (Milton, Mass.) plated the next two runs with back-to-back RBI bunt singles before Katherine McGann (Topsfield, Mass.) had an RBI fielder's choice to round out the scoring.
A pair of freshman did the rest of the damage on offense for the Gulls as Byrne Katz (Trumbull, Conn.) blooped an RBI double down the line in right field in the bottom of the fourth to score pinch-runner Jocelyn Russo (Middletown, Conn.). Classmate Krista Fales (Melrose, Mass.) later added a 2 RBI single in the bottom of the fifth to give Endicott the 7-0 lead.
Bortolotti ran into trouble in the top of the fifth as the Leopards loaded the bases when Nicole Ferreira (Framingham, Mass.) reached on a Lazar error, Michele Harrington (New Paltz, N.Y.) singled, and Cherie Dunn (Acton, Mass.) drew a one out walk. Jenna Bortolotti worked out of the jam, forcing a groundout to second and a lineout to leftfield by Krysta Cunha (New Bedford, Mass.) to end the threat. The junior allowed only a single over the final two innings en route to the win.
Lazar led the offensive attack, going 2-for-3 with a pair of bunt singles to go with an RBI and a run scored. Six other Gulls registered a hit including Katz and Fales who combined for three RBI.
Wentworth's Caylee Johanson (Windsor, Conn.) suffered the setback for the Leopards, tossing six innings while giving up eight hits and seven runs (three earned). Michelle Harrington notched a pair of base hits in going 2-for-3 while Harvey and Bridget Souza (Medford, Mass.) added the other two hits for WIT.
In between games, the skies gave way to a thunder and lightning storm that delayed the start of game two for nearly an hour and 25 minutes.
Following the delay, the Gulls got on the board first as the Blue and Green used a little small ball to produce a pair of runs. Jenna Lazar led off the inning with a double to left-center while Katherine McGann followed with a walk. Both were sacrificed into scoring position by Merry MacDonald (Braintree, Mass.), which allowed Lazar to score on a passed ball thrown to Ashley Wright (Merrimack, N.H.). Wright then laid down a bunt as a part of a suicide-squeeze that allowed McGann to score and give the Gulls a 2-0 lead.
Wentworth got one back in the top of the second as Nicole Ferreira (Framingham, Mass.) scampered home on a passed ball to cut the deficit to 2-1. Following a two-run inning by the Gulls, including back-to-back doubles by Sarah Spaziano (Norton, Mass.) and Krista Fales, Wentworth made it a one-run game again as Bridget Souza belted a two-run homerun over the fence in centerfield that scored Cunha to make it a 4-3 game. The Leopards tied the game in the next inning as Jen Giudice (Central Valley, N.Y.) laced an RBI double into the left-centerfield gap that scored Harrington.
Both teams had their chances to score over the final two innings but neither team could push the go-ahead run across. In the sixth inning, both teams had a runner on third, but Wentworth's Cunha popped into a double play to end the top of the sixth and McGann grounded out to shortstop to end the bottom half. In the top of the seventh, Wentworth's Harvey singled to lead off the inning followed by a Souza walk but the umpires huddled together and decided to end the game due to darkness, leaving the score tied at 4-all.
Endicott was led by two hits apiece from McGann, Hayley Hovhanessian (Farmington, Conn.) and Krista Fales. Three Endicott pitchers combined to throw six innings including starter Lyndsey Martins (Cumberland, R.I.), who only lasted three innings while giving up two hits and four runs (three earned). Jenna Bortolotti and Kayla Carignan (Laconia, N.H.) pitched the final three innings combining to allow just five hits.
Wentworth was led by 2-for-3 days from both Lizz Harvey and Bridget Souza, who also added a pair of RBI. Caylee Johanson picked up the no-decision, going six innings and allowing nine hits and four earned runs.
The Blue and Green return to action on Saturday as the Gulls will host New England College in the regular-season finale for Endicott starting at 12:00 p.m. Wentworth also wraps up its 2010 regular season campaign when the Leopards host Regis College in a doubleheader also starting at 12:00 p.m.
