BOSTON, Mass. – Sophomore Sterling Marino's (North Kingstown, R.I.) walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh inning lifted the Eastern Nazarene softball team to a sweep of Wentworth Institute of Technology in Commonwealth Coast Conference action at Carr Diamond. The Lions took the first game, 10-2, before Marino's heroics gave Eastern Nazarene a 10-9 win in the nightcap.
With the two wins the Lions have now won three straight and even their record at 6-6 overall while starting CCC play at 2-0. The Leopards slip to 0-10 (0-2).
In the first game, Wentworth took a 1-0 lead as junior Sam Curran (Quincy, Mass.) led off with a triple and came home on a sacrifice bunt from classmate Isabella Grassetti (Monson, Mass.). However, in the home half of the inning Eastern Nazarene scored seven times on just two hits while walking seven times – including five with the bases loaded.
The Lions added two more in the third when Marino had an RBI single to left center and junior Carissa Cicolini (Methuen, Mass.) scored when senior Cayla Clinkscale (Winchendon, Mass.) drew a bases-loaded walk.
Wentworth plated a run in the top of the fourth when senior Haylee Bacik (Lowell, Mass.) led off with a single and went to third on a double by classmate Paige Mochi (Cambridge, Mass.). Bacik scored on a bunt by freshman Kendall Kelly (New Lebanon, N.H.). Eastern Nazarene got the run back in the bottom of the fourth when Marino drew a bases-loaded walk.
Cicolini picked up the win (5-1) as she allowed two runs while scattering seven hits and striking out four. Marino was 2-for-2 with two RBI, senior Abagail Moore (Sheridan, Calif.) was 2-for-3 with two runs scored, and Clinkscale drove in two runs.
Curran and Bacik had two hits apiece for the Black & Gold while freshman Maya Bloom (Hopkinton, N.H.) took the loss.
Game two saw Wentworth score a pair in the top of the first as Curran led off with a double and went to third on a passed ball. Grassetti walked, and, after a ground out, junior Liz Glavin (Ipswich, Mass.) had a two-run double.
The Lions tied the game in the bottom of the first as Moore would score on a wild pitch and sophomore Krystal Holl (Hagerstown, Md.) drew a bases-loaded walk. In the second inning Eastern Nazarene took a 3-2 lead on an RBI double from Moore, which plated sophomore Kendra Brasil (Methuen, Mass.).
A three-run fourth inning gave the Leopards a 5-3 lead as Curran drew a one-out walk and went to third on a Sawyer single. Both players came home when Glavin belted her second home run in as many games. The Lions cut the lead to 5-4 in the home half of the inning when Marino delivered an RBI single to left.
Wentworth scored a pair of runs in the top of the fifth, thanks to a two-run single from Curran, which scored freshman Marina MacDonald Soccorso (Avon, Conn.) and Kelly to make it a 7-4 game. In the home half of the inning Moore delivered a two-run single, making it a one-run game (7-6) after five.
Glavin's second home run of the game – and third of the season – came after Sawyer had led off the sixth with a triple and put the Leopards ahead, 9-6. However, a three-run bottom of the sixth , keyed by a Holl RBI single and a pair of run-scoring wild pitches, knotted the game at 9-all.
After the Leopards left a runner on in the top of the seventh, Moore led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk. Cicolini reached on an error, placing runners on second and third before Marino's fly to deep right field ended the game.
Junior Olivia Tovar (Coarsegold, Calif.) earned the win (1-5) in a complete-game effort in which she struck out six batters. Moore was 3-for-4 with three RBI, Brasil was 2-for-2, and Marino and Holl drove in two runs each.
Bacik was saddled with the loss (0-5) while Glavin led the offense by going 4-for-4 with two doubles, two home runs, and seven RBI. Curran was 2-for-2 with two RBI, while Sawyer, Kelly, and MacDonald-Soccorso had two hits each.
Eastern Nazarene is at Nichols on Tuesday while Wentworth travels to Mass. Maritime on Sunday.
