Softball Walks Off With Sweep of Anna Maria

NEW LONDON, Conn. -- The Mitchell College softball team came away with a pair of non-conference wins over Anna Maria College on Wednesday afternoon, prevailing by final scores of 6-1 and 6-5.

In the opener, the Mariners fell behind 1-0 before firing back with six unanswered runs. Gemma Landry and Sarah Aviles each supplied a pair of hits, and starting pitcher Katelyn Lipsky struck out 10 batters over 6.0 innings to earn the victory.

Mitchell was a walk-off winner in the nightcap, plating four runs in the bottom of the seventh to steal a victory. Nene Capeles drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Emma LaBreck from third base. LaBreck went 3-for-3 with two RBI to lead the Mariners at the plate, and starting pitcher Hailey Hill earned her first win of the season.

Mitchell (17-17 overall) will next host Eastern Nazarene College on Saturday, April 30 at noon. 

Game 1 - Mitchell 6, Anna Maria 1

The visitors jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning thanks to an RBI single by Saylor Costa. Lipsky did well to limit the damage, getting three straight strikeouts to leave the bases loaded.

Mitchell took the lead with a pair of runs in the second inning. Madison Nicynski scored the tying run on a double steal with Sydney Oatway, who later scored on a fielding error by the AMCATS.

Aviles padded the lead with an RBI triple in the fourth, and Alex Lopez and Kayla Goins added to the margin with RBI singles in the fifth. Landry supplied the final run with a steal of home in the sixth, and reliever Ragan Miller secured the final three outs to give Mitchell the win.

Lipsky (7-9 overall) allowed the lone run on three hits over 6.0 innings of work. Anna Maria starter Eden Forget took the loss, allowing six runs (three earned) on seven hits while striking out one and walking five.

Game 2 - Mitchell 6, Anna Maria 5

An RBI single by JaNyia Maloy gave the AMCATS a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Anna Maria tacked on three more runs in the fourth, highlighted by a two-run single by Raven Carriere.

Mitchell cut the deficit in half in the fifth on RBI singles by Goins and LaBreck, but Forget knocked in a run in the seventh to give the visitors a 5-2 lead. Down to their final three outs, the Mariners started the home half of the seventh with five straight hits, the last of which came from Aviles and drove in the tying run. Two batters later, Capeles sent a fly ball to left that allowed LaBreck to tag up and score the winning run.

Hill (1-1 overall) yielded five runs (three earned) on eight hits and struck out two. Forget (6-14 overall) gave up six runs on 13 hits and struck out two.