Softball Sweeps North Central (Ill.) & Concordia (Wis.)

CLERMONT, Fla. – The Endicott softball team swept a pair of games on Thursday afternoon against North Central College (Ill.) and Concordia University (Wis.) at Legends Way Field 3. The Gulls defeated North Central by a 7-4 score in game one before earning a 10-5 victory over Concordia University in game two.

GAME 1 – Endicott 7, North Central 4

Senior starter Courtney Blake (East Islip, N.Y.) tossed a complete game against the Cardinals to pick up her first victory of the season (1-3). Blake yielded ten hits, four runs (all earned), and one walk to go along with a game-high three strikeouts.

North Central (1-0) senior Andrea Starr (Elk Grove, Ill.) suffered the loss (0-1) over seven innings of work, nine hits, seven runs (three earned), two free passes, and three punchouts.

Trailing 2-0 in the sixth, Endicott's offense erupted for five runs, which included RBIs from four different student-athletes, to take a three-run lead headed into the last inning and a half of play. Julia McNeill (Smithtown, N.Y.) got the offense going with a run-producing single through the left side of the infield, while Emily Hoffman (Malden, Mass.) tied up the game at 2-2 with a double to left center that scored McNeill from second.

Lexi Pederson (Chandler, Ariz.) proceeded to give the Gulls a 3-2 lead with a sacrifice fly to left field, and pinch hitter Samantha DiBella (Danvers, Mass.) capped the five-run frame with a two-run single to right field.

In the top of the seventh, Margaret Martzolf (Port Saint Lucie, Fla.) padded Endicott's lead when she crushed a two-run home run to left center to make it a 7-2 contest.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Martzolf hit her first home run of the season in today's win.
• The Gulls have hit two homers during their spring break trip so far with the other coming from Lindsee Allienello (East Providence, R.I.) against Plymouth State University on March 14.
• Today's game was the first-ever meeting between Endicott and North Central.
• McNeill and Hoffman both had multi-hit games in the victory.
• Blake retired eight batters in a row to start the game, and also recorded 13 ground outs.

FOR THE FOES

• Starr and Rachele Belletini (Gurnee, Ill.) both notched a pair of hits, respectively, and drove in one run each in the bottom of the fourth.
• Bri Floyd (Romeoville, Ill.) and Amanda Walker (Ottawa, Ill.) registered RBI singles in the Cardinals' two-run seventh inning comeback bid attempt.

GAME 2 – Endicott 10, Concordia 5

Sophomore Mikaela Mallozzi (Shelton Conn.) earned the win (1-1) on five innings pitched, seven hits, one run (earned), no walks and one strikeout, while freshman Laura Somerville (Suffield, Conn.) shut the door on the final two innings for the Gulls.

Falcons' starter Melissa Perkins (Park Forest, Ill.) was dealt the loss (4-3) through 5 1/3 innings, alongside 10 hits, nine runs (four earned), one free pass, and three punchouts. Sophomore Emily Brekke (Waterford, Wis.) finished up the final 1 2/3 innings only allowing one hit, an unearned run, and two walks in addition to one punchout.

Chrissy Gikas (Danvers, Mass.) gave Endicott a 1-0 lead in the third with an RBI single through the left side of the infield before the Gulls took advantage of four errors in the fourth inning to claim a commanding 5-0 gap on the scoreboard.

After Concordia (6-7) cut into its deficit with a run in the fifth, Endicott posted a four-spot in the top half of the sixth to move ahead 9-1. Gikas picked up her third RBI of the day with a bunt single to third base to start the scoring in the four-run frame, while another run scampered home an error during the same play.

McNeill added an RBI double down the left field line to plate Gikas from second later in the inning and Hayley Arduini (Southington, Conn.) and Ilyza Holman (Ashland, Mass.) executed a perfect double steal, with Holman crossing home plate, to account for the Gulls' scoring in the sixth.

The Falcons answered with four runs in the bottom of the sixth, which was highlighted by a two-run single to left center from Maddie Zazas (Mundelein, Ill.), but their rally fell short as Somerville retired the last four batters she needed to face, in order, to close out the win.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Endicott's 1-2-3 hitters in the lineup (Allienello, Gikas, McNeill) went a combined 8-for-13 with four runs scored, and five RBI.
• Mallozzi pitched to contact in today's victory as the sophomore hurler recorded six fly outs and seven ground outs. She also threw 43 strikeouts on 62 pitches total (nearly 70-percent).
• Gikas collected three RBI in the win (first multi-RBI game this season).

FOR THE FOES

• Zazas went 3-for-4 with two RBI out of the leadoff spot for the Falcons.
• Delaney O'Keefe (Muskego, Wis.) also collected two hits, going 2-for-4 with one RBI from the two-hole.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (3-5) closes out its spring break trip in Clermont, Florida tomorrow with games against Amherst (9 AM) and Wisconsin-River Falls at the Foundation Academy Complex. 

For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.