Softball Suffers Double-Header Loss at Bay Path College, 6-0 and 7-6

LONGMEADOW, Mass. – Elms College freshman left fielder Colleen Flaherty (Stoughton, Mass.) went 3 for 4 with two runs scored in game two, but Bay Path College used a walk-off home run by Mercedes Griffith (Malden, Mass.) in the bottom of the seventh inning of game two to help lift the Wildcats to wins of 6-0 and 7-6 to complete a New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) softball double-header sweep of the Blazers on Wednesday afternoon in Londmeadow, Mass. 

With the losses, Elms moves to 12-17 overall, 8-8 in conference play, while Bay Path improves to 14-23 on the season, 9-7 in league action.

Bay Path 6, Elms 0

In game one, Elms was limited to just three hits – one each by senior right fielder Jennifer Killion (Cambridge, Mass.), junior catcher Sarah Buckley (Wilbraham, Mass.) and senior shortstop Amanda Alvarado (Springfield, Mass.), while Bay Path plated two runs in the bottom of the third inning and three in the bottom of the fourth to pace a 6-0 victory.

A Nicole Ogden (Springfield, Mass.) two-run double to center field gave the Wildcats a 2-0 edge in the home half of the third and Bay Path built on its lead in the following frame when Keelin Dougherty (Northfield, N.H.) singled in two runs to help Bay Path notch a 5-0 advantage.

The Wildcats pushed across its final tally of the contest when Marina Rhodes (Providence, R.I.) drove in a run with a bunt single in the bottom of the sixth to cap the 6-0 triumph.

Dougherty was 3 for 4 with a run scored and two RBI, while Rhodes added two hits. Dougherty was also brilliant in the circle, tossing four strikeouts and scattering just three hits in a complete-game win.

Elms' senior pitcher Courtney Hampton (Westfield, Mass.) fanned six batters, but suffered the loss allowing six runs (three earned) on eight hits.

Bay Path 7, Elms 6

Elms sprinted out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning when junior second baseman Ali Bonavita (Agawam, Mass.) connected on a sacrifice fly, before freshman designated player Elizabeth Patient (Leicester, Mass.) singled in a run to give Elms a 2-0 lead. Sophomore third baseman Caitlee Carrier (Charlestown, Mass.) delivered a sacrifice fly and Patient later scored on a passed ball to give the Blazers a 4-0 cushion.

Bay Path answered with three runs in the home half of the inning when Katherine Chabot (Brookfield, Mass.) drove in a runner on a sacrifice fly, followed by a two-run double off the bat of Maeghan Whitcomb (Sheffield, Vt.) to pull the Wildcats to within one at 4-3.

Bay Path took the lead with a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the second to lead 5-3 before the Blazers tied the game in the top of the third on an RBI groundout by Bonavita.

Elms took the lead in the top of the fourth on an RBI single to right field by junior center fielder Leah Spring (South Hadley, Mass.) to set the score at 6-5 which it held until Rhodes connected for a round-tripper in the bottom of the fourth to send the game to a 6-6 deadlock.

The Wildcats ended the game when Griffith blasted a walk-off homer to complete the sweep.

Hampton suffered the game two loss, while Dougherty delivered her second win the of the day in the circle.

Rhodes pounded out three hits for Bay Path and Chabot added two hits, while Flaherty added three and Alvarado connected for two for the Blazers.

Elms concludes regular season action on Saturday, April 28 when it hosts Regis College at 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. at Cheryl R. Condon Field.