Softball Plays Two against Crosstown Rival Coast Guard
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mitchell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
|
Coast Guard | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mitchell | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 3 |
|
Coast Guard | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 11 | 3 |
NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College softball team returned to action on Wednesday afternoon, squaring off against the Coast Guard Academy in a non-conference doubleheader at Alumni Field. Pitching dominated in the opener, as the Bears walked off with a 1-0 victory in the bottom of the seventh, while the second game of the twin bill resulted in a 9-9 tie, called after seven innings due to darkness.
The Mariners (10-13-1, 5-5 GNAC) return to action on Friday, April 11, with a critical Great Northeast Athletic Conference South Division home doubleheader against Albertus Magnus College. The Bears (7-6-1, 2-2 NEWMAC) host Wellesley College on Friday, April 11.
Game 1 – Coast Guard 1, Mitchell 0
The opening game of the day between the Mariners and Bears was a classic pitcher's duel between Mitchell senior Emily Reynolds (Somers, Conn.) and Dana Walker of Coast Guard. Each pitcher surrendered just six hits and traded scoreless frames across the opening six innings.
Serving as the home team, Coast Guard began the bottom of the seventh with a single by pinch hitter Emma Behel. Bridget Bartz then came in as a pinch runner and advanced to third on a Mitchell fielding error, before coming around to score the game-winning run on a single to right field off the bat of Lauren Ragonese.
Junior Kaylee Drago (Danbury, Conn.) had a team-high two hits for Mitchell. Emily Reynolds shouldered the loss, dropping to 6-8 after giving up just one run, striking out four along the way.
Dana Walker improved her record to 6-3 on the spring with a complete game shutout, walking none and striking out eight. Ragonese had two hits in three at bats, while driving in one run.
Game 2 – Mitchell 9, Coast Guard 9
The Mariners leapt out to an early lead in the second game of the day, plating a run in the top of the first on an RBI groundout by junior Olivia DeCicco (Haverhill, Mass.). Coast Guard was quick to answer, pushing two runs across in the bottom of the frame on an RBI double by Madeline Kibler and a run scoring single off the bat of Emma Behel.
Senior Brooke Whitmarsh (Portsmouth, R.I.) doubled to centerfield to tie the game at 2-2 in the top of the third, before fellow senior Christina Housley (Norfolk, VA) gave the Mariners the lead with an RBI groundout to second base, scoring DeCicco, who had reached base on an infield single. Mitchell padded their lead with four more five more runs in the fourth, aided by a pair of Coast Guard errors and a bases loaded walk. The Bears punched back, making it an 8-7 game with four runs in the bottom of the fourth, but Whitmarsh ripped an RBI double to right field in the sixth to push the Mariners back ahead by two.
Coast Guard was able to score one in the bottom of the sixth and another in the bottom of the seventh, knotting the score 9-9 before the game was called, resulting in a tie.
Whitmarsh was 2-4 with a pair of doubles and two RBI for Mitchell, while Kaylee Drago also had two hits and a run scored. Olivia DeCicco got the start in the circle for Mitchell and gave up six runs in four innings.
