BIDDEFORD, Maine – The Wentworth Institute of Technology softball team dropped a pair of Commonwealth Coast Conference games to the University of New England on Sunday afternoon.
The Leopards drop to 9-14 overall and 3-7 in league play, while the Nor'easters improve to 18-11 and 7-3 in the CCC with the sweep.
Game One – UNE 3, Wentworth 0
Nor'easters senior pitcher Sydnee Bessler tossed a four-hit shutout while striking out nine batters to give UNE its first win of the day. Wentworth sophomore pitcher Kayla DeMedeiros (South Dartmouth, Mass.) and Bessler kept the game scoreless in a battle in the circle until the bottom of the fourth inning, when UNE added a run with an RBI single from Taylor Depot. The Nor'easters added a run of insurance in the bottom of the fifth, and added a single run in the sixth for good measure for the 3-0 final.
Two of Wentworth's four hits came off the bat of sophomore Brionna Myers (Seabrook, N.H.), while freshmen Katie Verreault (Scarborough, Maine) and Alexandra Pina (Cumberland, R.I.) each had a double in the effort.
DeMedeiros fanned three batters in 6.0 innings pitched for Wentworth in game one.
Game Two – UNE 10 Wentworth 2 (Six Innings)
UNE plated eight runs across the opening two innings for an early substantial lead, led by four RBI from Andrea Gosper, who knocked a bases-clearing double in the bottom of the second inning. Wentworth's Verreault swung into her second double of the day, scoring freshman Brianna Beverly (Pawcatuck, Conn.) to give Wentworth its first run in Biddeford. Freshman Ceilidh Higgins (Medway, Mass.) followed Verreault' s lead with an RBI double to left in the top of the fourth, but UNE continued to pile on runs, reaching an eight-run mercy after six.
Wentworth doubled up at the plate from the earlier game, led by a 2-for-3 showing from Beverly, who also scored a run in the effort. Verreault, Pina, Higgins, DeMedeiros, DiPilato, and Myers each had a single hit, while DiPilato and Verreault knocked in the Leopards' two runs.
In 1.2 innings pitched, Verreault struck out one in the loss, while freshman Aurora Wilks (Fruitport, Mich.) struck out three batters in 3.2 innings of relief.
Wentworth returns home to Carr Diamond on Tuesday with a make-up doubleheader against Endicott.
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