By Nicole Belair, Staff Writer
The softball team finished out last week with three wins and two losses against Roger Williams, Plymouth State, and Wheaton, putting their record at 13-11 on the season.
The Corsairs hosted Roger Williams on Wednesday, in a game rescheduled from late March.
The Hawks scored an early run, but first-year pitcher, Victoria Woodward, settled in with a strong defense for her first complete game, keeping the Hawks off home plate until the fifth inning.
UMass Dartmouth were consistent at the plate in the sixth against Hawks’ pitcher, Alyssa Murray. After a single by Rebecca Field, Cierra Sheerin grounded an RBI single, scoring Field’s pinch-runner, Maddie O’Gryzek. Roger Williams’ Juliet Hulme then took over the mound. She intentionally walked Brittany Polk, then got three outs in a row with the bases loaded.
Roger Williams had three more runs in the top of the seventh due to back-to-back Corsair errors. Senior, Gracie Trudeau, started off the Corsairs’ final at-bat with a double, but Hulme forced two ground-outs and a foul-out to end the game with a final score of 4-1.
The Corsairs then defeated Plymouth State in a double header on Saturday, claiming a 5-3 win in eight innings in the opener, and 10-4 to finish off the afternoon.
UMass Dartmouth started off strong in the top of the first, with Nicole McSweeney hitting a double to start. Emily Colton reached base on another hit, and Marissa Spinuzzi’s first double of the game sent both of her teammates home. Spinuzzi then scored, herself, on a throwing error and a grounder from Polk.
The Panthers were slow to respond with just one run per inning, tying the score by the end of the sixth inning. A scoreless seventh inning sent the teams into an eighth inning, where the Corsairs quickly took hold of the lead. Polk drove a pitch to left field, plating both Colton and McSweeney, and sealed the win for game one.
Plymouth State got on the board first with an RBI double, before UMass took a four-run lead in the second inning. First-year, Ashtyn Phaneuf, had her first RBI on a ground-out, plating Polk and advancing Sheerin to third. Three straight singles from Field, McSweeney, and Trudeau loaded the bases, and Colton rounded two more runs. Spinuzzi added one more RBI on the inning.
In the third inning, Lexi Pereira had her first career home run and upped the score to 6-2. Three runs on three hits increased the Corsairs’ lead even more, to 9-2. Pereira scored again in the top of the seventh after reaching base on a double and a sacrifice fly from Field. Plymouth State managed to register two more points before the end of the game, but it was not nearly enough to come back for the win.
The Corsairs lost their first game 3-0 in Sunday’s double header against Wheaton, but rebounded for a 3-2 win in the second.
Smith allowed only two hits for the entire scoreless first half of the game. Wheaton got the scoring going in the fifth with a two-run homer, and added one more in the sixth. McSweeney had the only hit for UMass Dartmouth, with a single to start off the fourth inning. The rest of the game was scoreless, however, and the Corsairs were unable to come back in time.
Polk put the Corsairs on the board right away with a two-RBI double to right center, sending Spinuzzi and Colton home. The Lyons cut the lead in half in the second inning with an RBI single.
Spinuzzi also had her second home run of the season, leading off the fourth with her homer. Wheaton had one more run in the fifth, but Woodward kept them off the bases for the final two innings. Woodward completed the game, allowing just six hits and only one earned run for her third win of the season.
Looking ahead, the Corsairs will host UMass Boston on Saturday, and will travel to Eastern Connecticut on Tuesday afternoon.