Softball Sweeps NVU-Lyndon

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College softball team took both games of a doubleheader with Northern Vermont University-Lyndon on Saturday afternoon, winning by final scores of 18-3 and 12-4 at Alumni Field.

Madison Nicynski went 6-for-8 with a homer, two doubles and a team-high seven RBI in the sweep as the Mariners pounded out 32 hits on the day. Kaitlin Thibodeau-Corey finished with five hits while Suzanne Vachon and Sydney Oatway each supplied four.

Mitchell (5-4 overall) will next host Pine Manor College on Wednesday, March 27 at 3 p.m. Lyndon (0-6 overall) returns to action at Rivier University on Saturday, March 30 at noon.

Game 1 – Mitchell 18, Lyndon 3 (5 innings)

Mitchell wasted little time in the opener, putting up four runs in the bottom of the first. The Mariners added seven more runs in the second inning highlighted by a three-run homer by Laurissa Amaker that cleared the left-center field fence. Vachon capped the frame with a two-run double to make it 11-0.

Lyndon got a run back in the third on a double by Cecilia Chamul—one of her three hits in the game—that scored Gracie Decker. However, Mitchell padded the lead with a seven-run fourth inning in which both Vachon and Thibodeau-Corey supplied two-run doubles.

Vachon, who finished with three doubles in the game, also picked up the win in the circle. She yielded three runs (two earned) on eight hits and struck out three over 5.0 innings, improving to 3-1 on the year. Lyndon starter Amber Roberts took the loss and dropped to 0-4 on the season.

Game 2 – Mitchell 12, Lyndon 4 (6 innings)

Thibodeau-Corey and Nicynski each drove in runs in the first inning to once again give the Mariners an early lead. After the Hornets cut the deficit in half on an RBI single by Madeline DeGroot in the third, Mitchell responded with a two-run blast by Nicynski in the bottom of the frame to go up 4-1. The homer was the first of her collegiate career.

Mitchell bumped the lead to 8-1 in the fourth. Oatway plated the first run with a single to left, and Nicynski followed with an infield single to score another. After a wild pitch brought in the third run of the inning, Alex Lopez singled down the left-field line to knock in the final run of the rally.

Lyndon picked up three runs in the fifth to once again cut into Mitchell's margin. DeGroot and Cassandra Black both drove in runs as the visitors pulled within four at 8-4.

Mitchell pushed across four runs in the sixth inning to enact the eight-run mercy rule. A two-run single by Nene Capeles plated the final two runs and ended the game.

Mitchell starter Taylor Duchesneau improved to 2-3 with the win, surrendering four runs (three earned) on seven hits while fanning eight over 6.0 innings. Decker (0-1 overall) took the loss for the Hornets and struck out four over 4.0 innings of work.