Gulls come out on top in battle of the birds
April 28, 2009
BEVERLY, Mass. - Day two of The Commonwealth Coast Conference softball tournament had its share of drama as Roger Williams University defeated Salve Regina University, 4-1, on a sixth inning grand slam by Sarah Grill (Watervliet, N.Y.) in game one of two held on the campus of Endicott College today. The Hawks went on to lose to Endicott College, 6-8, in game two of the double-header as the Gulls (34-6) came back from a pair of three-run deficits, aided by Ashley Wright's (Merrimack, N.H.) four RBI, to move on in the winner's bracket of the tournament. With the losses, both Roger Williams (28-16) and Salve Regina (23-18-1) move into the loser's bracket of the tournament.
Game one between the Hawks and Seahawks was a pitcher's duel for the first 4.5 innings of play. Salve Regina starter Sarah Jakiela (Meriden, Conn.) and Roger Williams' Jaclyn Doolin (Miller Place, N.Y.) combined to scatter only six hits in that span between the two teams. The Hawks were finally able to get their four runs on the board when Grill stepped to the plate and hit a ball to centerfield that just cleared the fence and gave Roger Williams a 4-0 lead.
Salve would threaten in the seventh when Amaran Garbisch (Ghent, N.Y.) drove in the Seahawks' first run of the game with an RBI single. However, Doolin would work out of the jam and close out the complete game effort in a 4-1 victory.
Doolin picked up the victory for the Hawks and improved to 21-7 this season by giving up seven hits, one earned run, and striking out three. Grill was the hero, going 1-for-4 with the grand slam while the rest of the Hawks lineup could only muster four other hits in the win.
Jakiela suffered her 16th setback of the year to fall to 23-16 despite throwing six innings, giving up three earned runs on five hits while striking out five. Garbisch led the Seahawks going 2-for-3 with an RBI while Caitlin Poplawski (New Britain, Conn.) went a perfect 3-for-3 from the dish.
Salve Regina moves on to the loser half of the bracket where they will have to win to continue on in the tournament. Roger Williams moved on to face Endicott College in game two of the playoff double-header.
The Hawks picked up right where they left off as a walk and a single left two runners on in the top of the first. Cleanup hitter Hannah Pirez (Bolton, Mass.) stepped to the plate and cranked a three-run homer to right centerfield, giving Roger Williams an early 3-0 lead.
The Gulls would respond with three runs of their own in the bottom of the first as Endicott loaded the bases and received three-consecutive RBI singles by Hayley Hovhanessian (Farmington, Mass.), Sarah Spaziano (Norton, Mass.), and Ashley Wright. Doolin escaped any more damage with a strikeout and a groundout to end the inning.
Roger Williams struck again in the top of the third as Pirez launched her second three-run homer of the game that was just out of the reach of a leaping Ashley Wright in centerfield. Endicott starter Jackie Collier (Swampscott, Mass.) would be replaced by Jenna Bortolotti (Milton, Mass.) after giving up two more singles in the inning following the homerun.
Trailing 6-3 going into the bottom of the third, Meghan Sargent (Salisbury, Mass.) led off the inning with a single to right and moved to second on a sacrifice by Spaziano. Wright would follow and crush a homerun over the leftfield fence that left the Gulls trailing by one run in the third, 6-5.
Both teams would remain quiet through the next few innings until Endicott came to bat in the bottom of the fifth. After an Ashley Wright walk to start the inning, Jenna Lazar (Milton, Mass.) would tie the game at 6-6 on an RBI double to left field, scoring Wright. Casey Shanley (Billerica, Mass.) would then drive in the go ahead run with an RBI single up the middle that scored Lazar.
The Gulls would add an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when Wright drove in her fourth run of the game with an RBI double to left centerfield that put the game out of reach for the Hawks. Jenna Bortolotti would work a perfect seventh inning en route to the 8-6 win.
Bortolotti picked up her 17th win of the season, pitching the final 4.1 innings and giving up only one hit and no runs. Wright went 3-for-3 from the dish with four RBI and two runs scored while Lazar, Shanley, Hovhanessian, and Spaziano each had an RBI for Endicott. Meghan Sargent also had a multi-hit game going 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Jaclyn Doolin took the loss for the Hawks, going 5.2 innings and giving up eight runs, all earned, on 11 hits and walked four batters. Michelle Caprice (Oak Ridge, N.J.) went 3-for-4 with two runs while Pirez went 2-for-4 with six RBI.
The Gulls will host the second round of the tournament on Thursday and face the winner of 2:30 p.m. game played on Endicott's campus. Roger Williams drops into the lower half of the bracket and will have to fight for its playoff life in a game to be played at Gordon College at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday.