Newbury Takes Two From Softball

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - Newbury College took both games of a doubleheader against Mitchell College on Saturday afternoon, winning by scores of 10-0 and 6-5 in New England Collegiate Conference action at Pine Manor Softball Field.

After getting a two-hit shutout in the opening game, the Nighthawks needed to battle back from three runs down and got a walk-off win in the nightcap. The wins kept Newbury unbeaten in NECC play this season.

The pair of wins moves the Nighthawks to over .500 for the first time this season at 12-11 (9-0 NECC). The two losses drop the Mariners to 7-16 (3-9 NECC).

The Nighthawks continue the season with a doubleheader on Wednesday evening against the second-place team in the NECC, the Regis College Pride, with first pitch set for 5:00 p.m. Mitchell takes a week off before welcoming Becker College for a pair of games on Saturday starting at noon.

Game 1: Newbury 10 - Mitchell 0 (5 innings)

Newbury's Mallory Stefan continued to help her cause at the plate, finishing 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored. Naomi Ricciotti also finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored while Elizabeth Kia was 1-for-3 with a two-run double in the fourth.

Taylor Duchesneau and Nia Brown were the only Mariners to get a hit off Stefan over 5.0 innings.

Stefan retired the last eight batters she saw, holding the shutout in the five-inning performance.

She allowed just two hits and struck out one batter to improve to 6-7 overall.

Duchesneau pitched 4.0 innings and allowed seven earned runs on nine hits. She fell to 5-12 with the loss.

Game 2: Newbury 6 - Mitchell 5

With two down and the winning run at second base in a 5-5 game, Babcock fired a single to left-center field to score Vieira for the walk-off win in the second game of the doubleheader.

Noelle Sass batted 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Milauskas batted 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored. Ricciotti finished 1-for-3 with a pair of RBI.

Megan Elphick went 3-for-4 and scored three times for the Mariners. Duchesneau also finished 3-for-4 at the plate while Samantha DelConte added a triple.

In the Nighthawks seventh, Vieira led off the inning with a bloop single. Ricciotti stepped in for the sacrifice bunt, moving Vieira to second. Gooden hit a pitch sharply but directly at the center fielder, putting two outs on the board in the inning. Babcock then lined one over the head of the shortstop to score the game-winning run.

It was the Mariners who got out to a fast start in the game, which began with a triple from DelConte. Elphick singled to right field for a quick 1-0 lead, and she later scored when Danielle Autieri drew a bases-loaded walk. Mitchell ended up leaving the bases loaded in the frame as Milauskas got out of the jam with a strikeout and pop up.

The Nighthawks answered in the bottom of the inning on a Gooden single that scored Sass, cutting the deficit in half at 2-1.

The Mariners struck again in the third, starting the inning with back-to-back singles by Elphick and Duchesneau. Elphick scored on an RBI groundout and Dechesneau scored to make it 4-1 on a single by Breanna Gagnon.

In the third, the Nighthawks put two in scoring position with no outs. A Mitchell error led to Milauskas scoring for a 4-2 game. With two still in scoring position, Ricciotti singled to right field, plating a pair and tying the game 4-4.

The Nighthawks took their first lead in the fourth with a two-out rally. Milauskas doubled to left-center and Sass drove her in with an RBI single up the middle, putting the Nighthawks ahead 5-4.

The Mariners answered in the fifth, with Elphick scoring on a single to left by Italia Krick to tie the game once again.

Milauskas pitched a complete game and allowed five runs on nine hits while matching a career high with seven strikeouts. Duchesneau took the ball again for the Mariners, allowing five earned on nine hits over 6.2 innings and striking out four.