Softball Drops Home Opener to JWU

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College softball team dropped a doubleheader to Johnson & Wales University on Sunday afternoon in its home opener, falling by final scores of 12-2 and 8-6.

The Wildcats finished with 14 hits in the opener as Caroline Amorelli led the way with three hits and three RBI. Amorelli and Hailey Erickson each contributed a pair of doubles, and Julia Huzi and Meaghan Gurska knocked in two runs apiece.

In the second game, Mitchell led 4-3 early thanks to a three-run homer by Brooke Whitmarsh. JWU responded with five straight runs to grab the lead and then held the Mariners off down the stretch. Megan Antaya paced the Wildcats with three hits in the contest while Jenna Bennett had three for Mitchell.

Mitchell (4-6 overall) will next host Norwich University on Saturday, March 26 at noon.

Game 1 – JWU 12, Mitchell 2 (5 innings)

The visitors scored four runs in the top of the first inning and never looked back. Jill Pulek got things started with an RBI single to left, and Gurska later capped the rally with an RBI single to left.

Huzi made it 5-0 in the second inning before Mitchell got on the scoreboard in the home half thanks to a JWU fielding error. An RBI double by Amorelli highlighted a three-run third inning as the Wildcats extended the lead to 8-1.

Alex Lopez knocked in a run with a single to right field in the third, but the Mariners never scored again in the game. A two-run double by Danielle Floyd gave JWU a 10-2 cushion in the fourth, and RBI doubles by Erickson and Amorelli in the fifth provided the final margin.

Mackenzie Clee picked up the win in the circle, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits over 4.0 innings. Mitchell's Katelyn Lipsky took the loss, giving up 12 runs (10 earned) on 14 hits while striking out four.

Game 2 – JWU 8, Mitchell 6

After falling behind 3-0 in the first, Mitchell rallied for four runs in the bottom of the frame to take its first lead of the day. Bennett plated the initial run with a double to left field, and three batters later Whitmarsh crushed a three-run homer—the first of her collegiate career—to put the Mariners in front.

The Wildcats scored the tying run on a wild pitch in the fourth inning. The damage could have been greater, but Mitchell starter Emily Reynolds escaped a bases-loaded jam by getting a line out to short.

JWU scored four runs in the third inning to take control. A double by Jessica Rynne plated the go-ahead run, and a two-run single by Pulek made it an 8-4 game.

Mitchell got a pair of runs back in the sixth to cut the deficit in half. Gemma Landry supplied an RBI single while Hannah Lemke scored on a wild pitch. Reliever Summer Ramundo got the Wildcats out of a bases-loaded pickle by getting a strike out to end the threat. 

The Mariners brought the tying run to the plate with one out in the seventh, but Ramundo struck out the final two batters to nail down her first save of the season.

JWU starter Sage Borkowski allowed four runs (none earned) on six hits to earn the victory. Reynolds went the distance and surrendered eight runs (two earned) on eight hits and struck out four.