WPI Softball Edges St. Joseph's (ME), Falls to No. 19 Moravian at NTC Spring Games

Lindsay Gurska

Clermont, FL --- Freshman Caraline Wood (Averill Park, NY) batted 4-for-4 and helped chase home the winning run as WPI defeated St. Joseph's (ME), 2-1, before absorbing a 10-8 setback to No. 19 Moravian Wednesday in a morning-afternoon softball doubleheader at the NTC Spring Games.
The Engineers sit 4-2 and will enjoy a day off before taking on Waynesburg (PA) and Simmons on Friday at 11am and 1pm, respectively. The Monks (3-2) continue their day with a game against Austin while the Greyhounds (5-0) face Alfred at 3pm.

Tied 1-1 after six, sophomore RiAnna May (Westminster, CO) reached on a one-out miscue and scored thanks to a single by Wood that bounced past the centerfielder. The next five batters of the game went down in order for the 2-1 final.

The bases were juiced for junior Lindsay Gurska (Revere, MA) who drew a walk to produce the
first run of the game in the top of the first. St. Joseph's responded with a bases-loaded walk of its own in the home half of the frame. WPI stranded 11 runners – at least one per inning - while the Monks abandoned six, including three in the initial stanza.

Sophomore Nina Murphy-Cook (Roseville, CA) went 2-for-4 with a pair of stolen bases and senior Jacquelyne DiTroia (Andover, MA) chipped in with a sacrifice bunt. Senior Clare Doolin (Newton, MA) yielded one run on five hits while striking out nine and walking two in the complete game effort.

Defensively, sophomore centerfielder Ama Biney (Worcester, MA) saved a run in the sixth when she one-hopped a throw to Gurska who made a nifty tag at the plate. Doolin and the Engineers also boasted four 1-2-3 innings.

After a break, WPI retired the Greyhound lineup in order and went on to build a 5-0 lead after one. Biney and Murphy-Cook scored on back-to-back fielder's choices before Gurska placed an RBI single in left. Junior Kristin Gallagher's (Coventry. RI) ground out enabled May to cross home plate while sophomore Natalie Fabrizio (Hampstead, NH) singled in Gurska.

Moravian got on the board with a two-out blast down the left field line in the second. The Greyhounds evened it up in the third thanks to a bases-clearing double and an RBI single. They then made it a 10-5 game with a five-run fifth.

Gurska, who finished the game 3-for-4 with a walk, a pair of RBI and two runs scored, launched a home run to left in the bottom of the fifth to keep the Engineers in the game. Murphy-Cook had a part in both runs in the seventh as she tripled to left center and came home on an infield ground out put into play by Wood. An infield popup and a strikeout looking ended the threat and the contest.

Also notching multiple hits were Biney (2-for-4, 2B, run) and Murphy-Cook (2-for-4, 3B, run, 2 RBI). Freshman Kylie Juarez (Elk Grove, PA) added a sacrifice as she along with Biney, Murphy-Cook, Wood and Gurska all stole a base. Sophomore Casey Arpin (Uxbridge, MA) tossed three scoreless innings of relief while classmate Kelsey Saucier (Worcester, MA) handed the ball to junior Caroline Medino (Pompton Lakes, NJ), who was tagged with the decision, after 2 1/3.