Softball Splits One-Run Games with Elms

NEW LONDON, Conn. – Mitchell College and Elms College split a New England Collegiate Conference softball doubleheader on Sunday afternoon at Alumni Field. The Mariners won the first game 5-4 before the Blazers held on for a 5-4 victory in the finale.

Elms batted as the home team in both games. The doubleheader was originally scheduled to be hosted by the Blazers, but unplayable field conditions forced a change in venue.

In the opener, Mitchell put up the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh inning to break a 4-4 stalemate. Starting pitcher Brittany Fiederlein then retired the side in order in the home half of the frame to secure her fourth win of the season. 

Elms led 4-0 in the second game before Mitchell trimmed the deficit to one with a three-run sixth inning. A solo homer by Beth Grimes in the sixth gave the Blazers a much needed insurance run, as the Mariners added a run in the seventh but came up just short. Starting pitcher Jessica Colson went the distance for Elms to earn her first victory of the season.

Mitchell (5-10 overall, 1-1 NECC) will next host Fitchburg State University on Thursday, March 27 at 3 p.m. Elms (3-7 overall, 1-1 NECC) returns to action at home against Southern Vermont College on Thursday at 1 p.m.

Game 1 – Mitchell 5, Elms 4

Each team committed a pair of costly errors in the first inning. Elms should have gotten out of the inning unscathed, but a dropped fly ball extended the frame and allowed the Mariners put up three runs, highlighted by a RBI single by Shannon O'Neil. The Blazers responded by pushing across four runs on five hits and two errors in the home half. Gianna Gonyea and Jennifer Bouvier each delivered RBI singles for Elms during the rally.

Mitchell left runners in scoring position in both the second and third innings before tying the game in the fourth thanks to another pair of Elms miscues. The Blazers then threatened in the bottom of the frame as Bouvier led off with a double and later stole third base. However, the next batter grounded back to Fiederlein in the circle, and the Mariners got the out at first before cutting down Bouvier at the plate to keep the game tied at 4-4.

Mitchell loaded the bases with one out in the seventh and plated the go-ahead run on a dropped line drive, the fifth error of the game for Elms. The damage could have been greater, but the Blazers got a force out at home followed by a fly ball to center to end the threat.

Fiederlein didn't let the ball out of the infield in the seventh to improve to 4-4 overall on the season. She gave up three earned runs on 10 hits and struck out three over 7.0 innings.

Grimes (2-2 overall), who got the starting nod for Elms, didn't allow an earned run in 7.0 innings. She yielded six hits and six walks and struck out two.

Game 2 – Elms 5, Mitchell 4

Elms strung together three straight two-out singles to jump out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Grimes got things started with a single to center, and Gonyea followed with a base hit through the left side. Hayley Zisk then singled through the right side to score Grimes and get the Blazers on the scoreboard.

Elms added three more runs on four hits and an error in the fourth. Rachel Beery plated the first run with a pinch-hit single to center, and Gina DiGiovanni and Grimes each added RBI singles in the frame.

A pair of Elms errors to open the sixth helped Mitchell get back into the game. Colson hadn't given up a hit up until that point, but the miscues gave the Mariners runners at first and second with nobody out. After a sacrifice moved the runners into scoring position, Jenny Groman came through with a timely double to left-center to cut the deficit in half. Fiederlein later followed with a two-out double down the left field line that made it a 4-3 game. But with the tying run on second base, Colson settled down and got out of the jam with a strikeout to end the rally.

The Blazers got a run back in the home half of the sixth courtesy of a two-out home run by Grimes. The Mariners then gave Colson trouble in the seventh, as Dylan Riccardi led off with a double to bring the tying run to the plate. Riccardi eventually scored on a bunt by Samantha Ryan, which brought the Mariners down to their last out. Back-to-back singles by Tricia Tomaselli and Rivkah Berkman made it interesting, but Colson got the game's final out on a long fly ball to right field.

Colson (1-4 overall) gave up just one earned run on five hits through 7.0 innings and struck out six. Tomaselli (1-6 overall) took the loss for the Mariners, giving up four earned runs on 12 hits over 6.0 innings.