Softball Swept in NECC Opener at Lesley

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Lesley University got a one-hitter from Game 1 starter Jennifer Dorval in an 8-0 rout and pounded out 16 hits in a 10-4 win in Game 2 in the Lynx home-opening doubleheader sweep of Mitchell College in New England Collegiate Conference softball play Sunday afternoon at Buckingham Field.

Dorval hurled 4.1 innings of no-hit ball, allowing only a one-out single in the fifth, walking three and striking out six in the five-inning shutout. At the plate, the reigning NECC Player of the Year went 3-for-3 with a double and two runs scored while driving in two.  

The Lynx (7-6, 2-0 NECC) scored a run in the first and another in the second after putting leadoff runners on base both innings off Mitchell (3-11, 0-2) starter Marissa Thomas. Emily Mangiaratti walked, was sacrificed to second, stole third and scored on a Sarah Apgar sac fly to left in the first. Allison Fountain reached on a dropped fly ball an inning later and later scored on a Jenna Fralick RBI single.

Dorval doubled in the third and was driven home on a Gabrielle Brixey RBI single to center for another run before the Lynx broke through for five in the fourth. Apgar doubled home a run and scored on a Dorval two-run single, and Fountain plated both Dorval and Brixey on a two-run double to left-center that upped the lead to 8-0.
 
Brixey went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored, and Apgar and Fountain each drove in two.
 
Freshman Dylan Riccardi picked up the lone hit for the Mariners, pushing a single through the right side to break up Dorval's no-hit bid in the fifth. Thomas allowed eight runs (seven earned) and struck out two in the loss.
 
Lesley plated two in the first inning of Game 2 with a Brixey single that scored Apgar from third and Dorval from first base on a fielding error to give the Lynx a 2-0 lead.
 
Mitchell got one back in the third when junior Tiffany Person led off with a triple to center, scoring a batter later on a groundout by senior Brittany Zaccaria.
 
The Lynx responded with three in the third and three more in the fourth. Another Apgar sac fly to left, a Dorval RBI triple and a Brixey run-scoring groundout upped the lead to 5-1, and Lesley went ahead 8-1 on a two-run single from Mangiaratti, who came home on a Molly Sarson suicide squeeze.
 
The Mariners came back with three runs on two hits with the help of two Lynx errors in the fifth, and Lesley answered with Fountain and Nicole Mercurio doubling and scoring to lead off the bottom half of the inning, increasing the lead to 10-4.
 
Lesley starter Cassandra Knox evened her record at 3-3 on the season, going 5.0 innings and allowing two earned runs while striking out three.
 
For Mitchell, Zaccaria went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI, and Person scored twice from atop the Mariners lineup.
 
Sarson and Apgar each went 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI for the Lynx, and Mangiaratti went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI.
 
Mitchell returns to action at Elms College on Saturday, April 7 at noon.