Game Two Rally Helps Blue Softball To Doubleheader Sweep At Endicott

Photo: Julia Monaco

BEVERLY, Mass. – Wellesley College softball scored a 9-0 victory in five innings in game one, before rallying for an 8-7 victory in game two of a non-conference doubleheader with Endicott College on Wednesday afternoon. Wellesley improves to 12-10 overall following the team's fourth-straight victory. The Gulls drop to an even 10-10 on the season.

Game One: Wellesley 9, Endicott 0 (5 innings)
Six different Wellesley players recorded at least one hit to help the Blue to a 9-0 rout of Endicott in game one. Wellesley starter Julia Warner (Kenmore, Wash.) finished the contest with a career-high 10 strikeouts, surrendering just three hits to improve to 3-4 on the season.

Sophomore Amanda Manning (Durham, Calif.) hit her first career home run in the top of the fourth
inning and had two hits, three runs scored and three RBIs. Senior Carly Bresse (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) had a game-high three hits out of the leadoff spot, hitting a pair of doubles to go along with three runs scored. Juniors Ashtyn Coleman (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and Kendra Coleman (Scottsdale, Ariz.) each had two hits, with Ashtyn Coleman driving in a pair of runs and Kendra Coleman scoring a pair of runs.

Sophomore Kayla Sheldon (Burlington, Mass,) had two of the three Endicott hits in the ball game. Classmate Margaret Martzolf (Port Saint Lucie, Fla.) added the other hit. In the circle, sophomore Mikaela Mallozzi (Shelton, Conn.) and first year Laura Somerville (Suffield, Conn.) combined for six strikeouts, while Mallozzi took the loss to drop to 2-2 on the year.

Ashtyn Coleman opened the scoring in the top of the first inning, driving in Bresee for the first run of the game. She was later caught at second on a double steal that allowed Manning to score the second Blue run.

Manning, Ashtyn Coleman and junior Anna Pisac (Snohomish, Wash.) added to the Wellesley lead in the top of third, hitting three-straight RBI singles to make the score 5-0. An RBI groundout from senior Jaclyn Tsang (Manalapan, N.J.) then made the score 6-0. The Blue continued to add on in the top of fourth, as Bresse doubled to drive home Kendra Coleman, before scoring when Manning sent the ball over the centerfield wall.

Warner did the rest, striking out the side in the bottom of the fourth before working around a leadoff walk and a single in the bottom of the fifth to end the game with back-to-back strikeouts.

Game Two: Wellesley 8, Endicott 7
Wellesley scored three runs in the top of the first only to see their early lead evaporate thanks to a five-run Endicott rally in the bottom of the fourth. The Blue then countered with two runs in the top of the fifth and sixth innings to eventually hang on for an 8-7 win in game two.

Manning added four more hits in game two, scoring two runs in the contest. First year Veronica Locher (Walnut Creek, Calif) had two hits to drive in a game-high four RBIs, while Tsang added a season-high three RBIs on three hits. Tsang now has 99 career hits for the Blue. In all, eight different Wellesley players recorded at least one hit, while Bresee, Manning, Ashtyn Coleman, Pisac and Tsang all scored runs.

Sophomore Danielle Stratton (Agawam, Mass.) had a team-high three hits for the Gulls. Stratton also had one RBI and a run scored. First year Hayley Arduini (Southington, Conn.) and junior Ilyza Holaman (Ashland, Mass.) each recorded two RBIs, with Arduini hitting her first career home run and scoring a pair of runs.

Tsang and Locher got the Blue started in the first inning, notching back-to-back base hits to drive in runs. Tsang plated Ashtyn Coleman with a base knock to center, before Locher scored Tsang and Pisac with her own base hit to center.

Arduini broke the Gulls' scoreless streak in the bottom of the second inning with a home run to left center that made the score 3-2. However, Tsang would respond with another RBI single to make the score 4-2 in the top of the third inning.

After going down quietly in the bottom of the third inning, Endicott exploded for five runs on four hits and one Wellesley error in the bottom of the fourth inning. Holman hit a two-RBI single to start the rally, later scoring when Stratton drove her in. A Wellesley error allowed the fourth run of the inning to score, before junior Julia McNeill (Smithtown, N.Y.) capped the rally with an RBI double to left.

The Endicott lead was short lived, as Locher brought the Blue back to within one with a two-RBI single in the top of the fifth. Pisac and Tsang then hit RBI singles with the bases loaded in the top of the sixth inning to help Wellesley retake the lead, 8-7.

Wellesley sophomore Madeleine Bianchi (Lakeville, Minn.) earned the win in game two, coming on in relief to pitch 3.1 scoreless innings for her ninth win of the year.