SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – After a deep run in the Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament, the Wentworth Institute of Technology softball team saw their season come to an end Friday afternoon in a best-of-three finale against Western New England. Despite the Golden Bears pushing themselves into the championship thanks to a 9-1 victory, the Leopards wrapped up what was a historic campaign and the most successful season in program history.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Golden Bears earned a 1-0 edge in the first inning as a single by graduate student Dina DiBlasio (Norwalk, Conn.) with two runners on base brought home a score. Later in the inning, a sacrifice fly from senior Kailey Carrano (West Haven, Conn.) ran home another tally, marking a 2-0 score.
• A batter reaching on fielder's choice in the third inning brought home a score by DiBlasio, extending the host's lead to 3-0. In the top of the fourth, however, the Black & Gold threatened the score as both graduate student Alexandra Pina (Cumberland, R.I.) and sophomore Jess Rowe (Yardley, Pa.) reached first and second. Senior Julia Bollentin (South Kingstown, R.I.) would reach first next on a fielder's choice but the threat ended as Pina was out heading to third on the play.
• WNE boosted the score in the fourth inning as an error brought DiBlasio three-quarters of the way across the field and ran home two scores, stretching the Golden Bears' lead to 5-0. A Carrano single brought home DiBlasio before a few batters later, an error brought Carrano home and marked a 7-0 lead. A single by sophomore Alex Ferriouolo (North Haven, Conn.) drove home a run to extend the advantage to 8-0.
• In the fifth inning, Wentworth got on the board as, with sophomore Katie Kranz (Bedford, Mass.) on second, a double by senior Kaitlin Pettenger (Budd Lake, N.J.) drove home Kranz and marked an 8-1 score.
• A double by DiBlasio in the bottom of the inning brought home a score, ending the game with a 9-1 final tally.
• Offensively, Pettenger and freshman Julie Schriver (Moscow, Pa.) guided Wentworth with a hit each. In the circle, senior Erin Hancock (Holden, Mass.) pitched three innings and surrendered nine hits.

NOTEWORTHY:

• Along with the notable performances from yesterday's conference tournament action that brought a few student-athletes to the top of all-time lists, many other records have been broken following an extremely successful season. Just a few are included below:
• 28 wins marks a new program high in any one season, as does their hit total (335), home run total (20), and strikeouts in the circle (200).
• Pettenger's 56 hits in the 2023 season mark a new program record, and she sits as the all-time career hits leader now with 139.
• Graduate student Briana Beverly (Pawcatuck, Conn.) trails only Pettenger in all-time career hits but now has the most all-time games played with 139.
• Hancock walked the fewest batters across seven innings (1.24) in 2023 and holds the all-time career saves marker with six.

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