Softball Sweeps Bay Path

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College softball team won both games of its New England Collegiate Conference doubleheader against Bay Path College on Thursday afternoon, taking the first contest by a 6-4 final before posting a 10-0 victory in five innings in the nightcap.

Senior pitcher Marissa Thomas earned both wins inside the circle for the Mariners (5-11 overall, 2-2 NECC), tossing a combined 12.0 innings on the day. Classmates Stacey Suplicki and Shannen Pelletier led Mitchell at the plate, the former finishing with four hits and three RBI and the latter with three extra-base knocks and three RBI.

Mitchell will next play at Elms College on Saturday, April 7 at 12 p.m. Bay Path (5-20 overall, 0-4 NECC) returns to action at Regis College on Wednesday, April 11 at 5 p.m.

Game 1 – Mitchell 6, Bay Path 4

Bay Path jumped out to a quick lead in the first inning when Mercedes Griffith crushed an 0-2 pitch over the left field fence for a two-out, three-run homer. The blast was her first of the year and gave the Wildcats a 3-0 advantage.

The Mariners picked up their pitcher in the third inning with three runs to tie the game. Suplicki got things started with a bases-loaded single to right field that scored two, and Pelletier later followed with a sacrifice fly to center that plated the tying run.

Junior Tiffany Person hit a one-out double in the fourth and later scored on a wild pitch to give the Mariners their first lead at 4-3. Mitchell then tacked on another run in the fifth when senior Nikki Hoxie also scored on a wild pitch.

Katherine Chabot led off the sixth inning with a triple to spark the Wildcats. Nicole Ogden immediately brought her home with a sacrifice fly to center to cut the lead to 5-4. Bay Path then loaded the bases with only one out, but Thomas escaped the jam by striking out the next two batters to retire the side.

Mitchell added an insurance run in its half of the sixth but wouldn't need it. The Wildcats brought the tying run to the plate in the seventh, but Thomas recorded the final three outs to seal the win. She finished with a career-high 10 strikeouts and allowed four runs on 10 hits in 7.0 innings of work.

Rhodes allowed six runs (three earned) on six hits and struck out three while walking eight. Griffith finished with two hits, as did Keelin Dougherty and Marissa Stone, to pace the Bay Path offense.

Game 2 – Mitchell 10, Bay Path 0 (5 innings)

Mitchell pounded out 10 runs on 10 hits and invoked the eight-run mercy rule in the fifth inning following a walk-off, three-run home run by Person. Thomas allowed only two hits over 5.0 innings and struck out three to post her second shutout of the season.

The Mariners took the lead in the first inning when Person led off with a single into the outfield but ended up rounding the bases and scoring thanks to both a fielding and throwing error. Mitchell increased the margin to 2-0 in the second on an RBI double by Pelletier, the first of three extra-base hits in the game for the senior outfielder.

Mitchell broke the game open with a five-run third inning. Freshman Lindsey Romagnino plated the first run with a double down the left field line and later scored on double steal. Suplicki followed with an RBI single and scored on a ground out by freshman Dylan Riccardi. Pelletier capped the rally with an RBI triple to center that scored Hoxie, who had reached base with a bunt single.

Thomas didn't give up a hit until Dougherty led off the fourth with a single down the left field line. Griffith also singled in the fifth, but that would be all the offense the Wildcats would muster.

Pelletier doubled in the home half of the fifth and moved over to third base on an error to put the winning run only 60 feet away. With runners at the corners and only one out, Person put an exclamation mark on the game with her first long ball of the season, a drive that cleared the center field fence with room to spare.

Dougherty got the starting nod for the Wildcats and struck out and walked two in the loss.