Softball Splits Non-Conference Twinbill with Curry

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The Bridgewater State University softball team split a non-conference doubleheader with visiting Curry College on Thursday afternoon at Alumni Park.

Bridgewater won the first game, 4-3, while Curry earned the split with a 2-0 shutout in the nightcap.

The host Bears see their record go to 8-14 with the split as they snapped a five-game losing streak, while the visiting Colonels are now 5-15 on the year.

Game One

The Bears rallied from a 3-2 deficit to score a run in the sixth and then won the game in walk-off fashion in the seventh.

Krista Kennedy (Danvers, Mass.) plated Alexandra Ruprecht (Kingston, Mass.) with an RBI single in the sixth to knot the score at 3-3. In the seventh, the Bears put runners on second and third with nobody out following a Samantha Mulcahy (Taunton, Mass.) walk, a Mackenzie Holt (Gilroy, Calif.) bunt single and a throwing error. A fielder's choice ground out erased Mulcahy at the plate, but, after a stolen base, Shannon Grindle (Halifax, Mass.) hit a grounder to second and Holt raced home with the game-winning run.

Natalie Sorrenti (Bridgewater, Mass.) picked up the win in relief in her first appearance in a BSU uniform. Sorrenti allowed a run on two hits with a pair of strikeouts in two innings of work. Deianeira Underhill (Rochester, Mass.) tossed the first five innings giving up two runs (one earned) on six hits with a strikeout.

Mikayla Lambert (Blackstone, Mass.) was tagged with the loss for the Colonels in the complete game effort. Lambert (3-6) allowed four runs (two earned) on four hits and five walks. She also fanned seven.

Curry opened the scoring with an RBI ground out in the top of the first. Bridgewater tied it at 1-1 on Jenny Heller's (Taunton, Mass.) RBI double in the second. The Bears then took a 2-1 lead in the third when Courtney Gouveia (Taunton, Mass.) was credited with a steal of home. RBI ground outs by Lambert in the fifth and Jessica Saluti (Braintree, Mass.) in the sixth put the Colonels back in front, 3-2.

Game Two

Rebecca Black (East Greenwich, R.I.) tossed a complete game shutout to lead Curry to the 2-0 win in game two. Black (2-8) scattered seven hits, did not issue a walk and fanned three.

The Colonels pushed across the game's only two runs in the second inning. Saluti got the rally started with a double, moved to third when Carolyn Lynch (Ipswich, Mass.) reached on an error, and scored on Talia Forte's (North Scituate, Mass.) RBI ground out. Allison May (West Bridgewater, Mass.) followed with a single to left and Lynch came around to score when the ball was mishandled.

Sorrenti (1-1) went the distance in the circle for the Bears as she gave up just the two runs (one earned) on four hits with no walks and four strikeouts.

Kacie Carvalho (Fairhaven, Mass.) went 2-for-3 with a double to pace the BSU offense.

Both teams are on the road for conference doubleheaders on Saturday starting at noon. The Bears take on Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) rival Fitchburg State University, while the Colonels battle Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) foe Roger Williams University.