Softball Drops Twin Bill to Wesleyan

NEW LONDON, Conn. – Wesleyan University picked up a pair of wins over Mitchell College on Tuesday afternoon by final scores of 6-3 and 8-0 in non-conference action at Alumni Field.

The Cardinals pounded out 13 hits in each game while starting pitchers Danielle Rinaldi and Brenna Monroe surrendered a combined four hits on the day. Monroe tossed a one-hitter in the nightcap en route to her first career shutout.

Mitchell (8-15 overall) will next play at Becker College on Wednesday, April 17 at 3 p.m. Wesleyan (11-17 overall) returns to action at Bowdoin College on Saturday, April 20 at noon.

Game 1 – Wesleyan 6, Mitchell 3

Wesleyan jumped out to a 2-0 lead with runs in the second and third innings, both which came with the aid of Mitchell errors. The Mariners made up for it with three runs in the home half of the third, sandwiching an RBI groundout by Madison Nicynski with RBI singles by Suzanne Vachon and Sydney Oatway.

Mitchell's lead didn't hold up for long as the Cardinals pulled ahead with three runs in the fourth. The bottom of the order got things started as Monroe led off with a double and scored on a single up the middle by Alexis Campbell. Three batters later, a sacrifice fly by Rinaldi put Wesleyan back in front, and Sophia Sciarappa followed with an RBI single to extend the lead to 5-3.

Campbell knocked in another run in the fifth to bump the Wesleyan lead to three. Rinaldi wouldn't need the extra run support as she didn't allow a hit over the final two innings. She picked up the win to improve to 5-7 on the season, yielding three runs (two earned) on three hits while striking out five.

Taylor Duchesneau took the loss for the Mariners, surrendering six runs (two earned) on 13 hits. She dropped to 3-9 on the year.

Game 2 – Wesleyan 8, Mitchell 0 (6 innings)

Monroe was the story of the second game, allowing only one hit over 6.0 innings while fanning six and walking one. She improved to 2-1 on the season.

Wesleyan spotted Monroe a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning, scoring all three runs with outs. A single by Olivia Gorman put two runs on the board, and she later scored the third on a single to center by Marina Williams.

Lauren Gaffney-Gomez led off the fourth with a solo homer to center, the first of three Wesleyan runs in the inning. Fiona Skerrett also added an RBI single in the frame as the margin widened to 6-0.

Rinaldi led off the fifth with a solo shot of her own, clearing the fence in left to make it a 7-0 game. The final run scored on a double to left-center by Alyssa DaSilva, setting the stage for the mercy-rule ending.

Mitchell's lone hit came in the second inning off the bat of Kaitlin Thibodeau-Corey. Vachon (5-6 overall) got the start inside the circle and allowed eight runs (four earned) on 13 hits and struck out one.