Softball Blanked by ENC

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College softball team dropped a pair of New England Collegiate Conference contests to Eastern Nazarene College on Saturday afternoon, falling by final scores of 1-0 and 3-0.

With the wins, Eastern Nazarene (20-20 overall) improved to 8-4 in league action and clinched first place in the NECC standings. The Lions have earned the right to host the upcoming NECC Championship, which will be held May 6-8.

ENC hurler Jennelle Munoz tossed 14.0 scoreless innings on the day to earn a pair of shutouts. In the opener, a two-out double by Darcy Castro produced the game's only run in the top of the seventh inning. The Lions scored all three of their runs in the fifth inning of game two, as Munoz limited the Mariners to only two hits.

Gemma Landry and Alex Lopez each finished with a pair of hits to lead Mitchell at the plate in the doubleheader.

Mitchell (17-19 overall, 4-6 NECC) will wrap up the regular season with a pair of home games against New England College on Sunday, May 1 at noon.

Game 1 – ENC 1, Mitchell 0

Runs were hard to come by in the first game as both teams played stout defense behind stellar pitching. After Mitchell starter Katelyn Lipsky struck out the side in the top of the first, the Mariners got a leadoff single from Landry and moved her into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. However, in what would become a theme for the day, Munoz escaped trouble without giving up a run.

The Mariners put runners on base in every inning but the third but failed to capitalize. Mitchell's best scoring chance came in the fourth, after a leadoff double by Lopez yielded three cracks at producing a run. Munoz countered by getting a fly ball and two pop ups to get out of the jam with the game still knotted at 0-0.

In the seventh, Castro stepped up to the plate with a runner on first base and two outs. She faced a full count before delivering a double into the left-center gap that allowed Aurora Adams to score. Two-out singles by Sarah Aviles and Landry gave the Mariners a chance in the bottom of the frame, but Munoz fielded a comebacker for the final out.

Munoz scattered six hits over 7.0 scoreless innings and struck out five while issuing one walk. Lipsky was equally as impressive, surrendering the lone run on four hits while striking out 10.

Game 2 – ENC 3, Mitchell 0

Mitchell's lack of timely hitting continued in the nightcap, as the hosts left seven runners on base and failed to score a run. The Mariners squandered a golden opportunity in the fourth inning—loading the bases with no outs in a scoreless game—but came up empty. 

The Lions managed only one hit against starter Emily Reynolds over the first four innings but finally broke through in the fifth. Kiley Ozaki doubled to get things started and later scored on a single up the middle by Alexys Giddings. Ashley Caldwell then dumped a two-run single into left-center field to extend the lead to 3-0. 

With the lead in hand, Munoz didn't allow another hit the rest of the game. She pitched around a leadoff walk in the sixth and an error in the seventh to improve to 14-12 overall on the season.

Reynolds turned in another quality start but came up on the losing end, dropping to 9-8 overall. She gave up three runs on six hits and struck out two.