Softball Splits MASCAC Twinbill with MCLA

By Jim Fenton

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University softball team used a seventh-inning rally to stop a seven-game losing streak Saturday afternoon.

After dropping the opener of a doubleheader to the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, 1-0, the Bears scored twice in their final at-bat to overtake the Trailblazers, 3-2, at Shewcraft Field.

BSU is now 15-15 and 6-4 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference while MCLA is 15-13 and 5-5 in the conference.

The Bears managed just three singles in the first game and five hits in the second game.

They received strong pitching in the opener from junior Olivia Hargreaves (Weare, N.H.) and senior Olyvia Mendonca (Taunton, Mass.) in the second game.

Game Two: Bridgewater State 3, MCLA 2

With the Bears trailing, 2-1, sophomore Aubrey Carberry (Dartmouth, Mass.) led off the top of the seventh with a single up the middle, and with one out, senior Ella Staffier (Marshfield, Mass.) singled to right.

Carberry scored the tying run on a passed ball and senior Victoria Becker (Abington, Mass.) delivered the game winner with a sacrifice fly to left.

MCLA threatened in the bottom of the inning, putting two runners on with one out, but the second out was recorded on a strikeout and a runner was thrown out at third by catcher Sidney Schwartz (Chelmsford, Mass.), a junior, to end the game.

BSU opened a 1-0 lead in the first inning when senior Angelina Lynch (Taunton, Mass.) led off the game with her second homer of the season and sixth of her BSU career. The home run marked her 100th hit as a member of the Bears.

The Trailblazers went up, 2-1, in the bottom of the first.

After two errors on balls hit by the first two batters produced a run, freshman Paxton Ebling (Pittsfield, Mass.) singled home the go-ahead run.

Mendonca (5-2) scattered four hits and no runs the rest of the way. She struck out five in the complete-game win.

Freshman Hannah Gilbert (Colrain, Mass.) took the loss and fell to 7-6. She pitched the final two innings, striking out four and giving up two runs and three hits.

Sophomore Allie Mienaltowski (Delanson, N.Y.) pitched the opening five innings, striking out four and allowing a run and two hits.

Game One: MCLA 1, Bridgewater State 0

The lone run of the game was scored in the first inning.

Senior Hailey Peabody (West Springfield, Mass.) led off with a triple to right-center field and came home on a sacrifice fly to left by senior Maggie Closinski (Rome, N.Y.).

Hargreaves struck out eight and allowed only four hits, falling to 3-6 for the Bears.

Gilbert was the winning pitcher, striking out nine.

BSU was hitless until Lynch led the fourth with a single and stole two bases, but Gilbert struck out three in a row to escape.

Becker had a bunt single in the fifth and Carberry had a two-out infield hit in the seventh.

The Bears are on the road again Monday, facing Worcester State in a doubleheader at noon.

MCLA will play a twinbill on Monday at noon at Salem State.