BOSTON, Mass. – Junior Courtney Blake (East Islip, N.Y.) pitched a one-hitter in the first game and earned the victory in four innings of relief in the second game, as Endicott topped the Wentworth Institute of Technology softball team in both games of a Commonwealth Coast Conference doubleheader Monday afternoon at Carr Diamond.
The Gulls captured the first game 13-0 and then won the second game 6-3 in eight innings.
An RBI double to left center by junior Sam DiBella (Danvers, Mass.) in the opening inning put the first run on the board in game one. A bases loaded walk gave Endicott the 2-0 lead after one. The Gulls added a run in the third off a throwing error and sophomore Lexi Pederson (Chandler, Ariz.) hit a fifth inning RBI single to centerfield to make it 4-0.
In the bottom half of the fifth, Blake had her perfect game broken up when freshman Haley Sabino (Topsfield, Mass.) reached on a fielding error. In the top of the sixth, junior Emily Hoffman (Malden, Mass.) hit a sacrifice fly to score a run. Freshman third baseman Margaret Martzolf (Port Saint Lucie, Fla.) hit a RBI double to left center to make it 6-0 Endicott.
The Gulls tacked on an additional seven runs in the seventh. Blake had her no-hit bid broken up in the bottom of the seventh when freshman Vanessa Weymouth (Fremont, N.H.) hit a leadoff single to center.
Winning pitcher Blake went the distance, giving up one hit and striking out eight. Senior pitcher Sam Curran (Quincy, Mass.) pitched all seven for the Leopards, striking out a pair.
The Leopards took their first lead of the afternoon in the bottom of the first of game two thanks to an RBI single to right by Curran. A sac fly by junior Karsyn Sawyer (Chatham, N.Y.) put the Black and Gold up 2-0 after one. Endicott got on the board in the top of the third thanks to a DiBella double to left field, scoring junior Jamie Corda (Higganum, Conn.). The Gulls tied the game at two in the top of the fifth when freshman Danielle Stratton (Agawam, Mass.) singled to second base, scoring Hoffman.
Wentworth regained the lead in the bottom half of the inning when Curran hit a RBI single to center to put her squad up 3-2. The Gulls came back in the sixth when Corda doubled to left field, knocking in a run and tying the game at three. Wentworth couldn't work up a walk off in the seventh, as the Gulls went on to score three runs off two hits and two errors in the eighth. Sophomore Chanler Hospot (Pittsfield, Mass.) was placed on second to start the eighth and moved to third a bunt single by sophomore Chrissy Gikas (Danvers, Mass.). A fielding error on a bunt the next play scored the eventual game-winning run.
Senior Meg Donegan (Atkinson, N.H.) started for the Gulls and went four innings before Blake finished the final four, giving up one hit and no runs while striking out four. Junior Heather Pinkston (Concord, Calif.) went the distance for the Leopards, giving up three earned runs off 11 hits. Curran went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and two RBI.
Wentworth makes the trip to Daniel Webster on Wednesday afternoon for a non-conference matchup. Endicott returns home Tuesday to host Babson.
