Softball Extends Winning Streak to 12 at Becker
LEICESTER, Mass. - The Mitchell College softball team ended the regular season on a good note, picking up 4-2 and 10-1 victories at Becker College on Saturday afternoon to extend its winning streak to 12 games.
Freshman Lindsey Romagnino had a combined three hits with five RBI and senior pitcher Marissa Thomas allowed only one earned run while striking out six as the Mariners also posted their 16th straight conference win. Mitchell improved to 19-13 overall and 16-2 in conference play and will be the second seed in the 2012 NECC Championship. The Mariners will host Becker (10-28 overall, 7-11 NECC), which claimed the seventh seed via a tie-breaker, on Tuesday, May 1 in the first round.
In the first game of the day, Mitchell wasted no time getting on the board in the top of the first, as Romagnino's RBI ground-out scored junior Tiffany Person, who had earlier walked and proceeded to steal second and third. Becker answered in the bottom half of the frame as Larissa Paula slapped an RBI single through the right side that scored Kaitlyn Kenney.
The Mariners would add runs in the second, third and fifth innings, with RBI base hits by sophomore Tricia Tomaselli and senior Nikki Hoxie. Person also scored off a passed ball as Mitchell extended the lead to 4-1.
The Hawks got one back in the bottom of the fifth when Talan Barron drove an RBI single up the middle that scored Megan Bolduc and cut the lead to 4-2. But that would be as close as the hosts would come, as Thomas (9-7 overall) shut Becker down in the sixth and seventh innings. Megan Cordon (6-15 overall) struck out six Mariners while scattering eight hits. Bolduc finished 2-for-4 with a run.
In the nightcap, Tomaselli (9-6 overall) gave Mitchell another strong pitching performance, tallying five strikeouts and giving up only one run in six innings of work. The Mariners scored two runs in the top of the first, with one coming off a passed ball and the second the result of a wild pitch.
The score remained 2-0 going into the top of the third when senior Brittany Zaccaria hit an RBI ground-out to score sophomore Chelsea Arpin. On the very next at bat, Romagnino singled to the left side to drive Person home and give Mitchell a 4-0 lead. The Mariners added two more runs in the fourth as freshman Dylan Riccardi had an RBI sacrifice bunt to score Hoxie from third and junior Meghan Burke reached home on a wild pitch.
The Hawks finally broke into the scoring column in the bottom of the fourth when Shawna Drown singled to shortstop to score Barron. Mitchell extended its lead to 7-1 in the top of the fifth when Burke's sacrifice ground-out brought home senior Stacey Suplicki.
In the top of the sixth, Romagnino came to the plate with the bases loaded and blasted a double to deep left field, driving in three runs and giving her team a 10-1 lead. Person scored three times during the game while going 2-for-4 at the plate, and Tomaselli and Arpin each had two hits and a run for the Mariners. Drown went 2-for-3 with an RBI to lead the Hawks.