Softball Splits Doubleheader With Regis College

Box Scores

CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Elms College softball team earned a 9-4 win in game one of its doubleheader with Regis College before falling 11-7 to the Pride in the second game on Thursday at Cheryl R. Condon Field.

Elms now moves to 2-11 overall, while Regis improves to 2-17 on the season.

Game One – Elms 9, Regis 4

In the opening game, Elms scored four times in the bottom of the second inning, and then twice in the last of the third and fifth frames.

In the Blazers’ half of the second, senior catcher Tiffany Williams (Berlin, Conn.) cracked an RBI single to centerfield, sophomore shortstop Jenna Lipscomb (Cambridge, Mass.) smacked a run-scoring base hit down the left field line, and freshman designated player Sarah Buckley (Wilbraham, Mass.) reached on a Regis error to score a pair of runs.

An inning later, sophomore left fielder Marlene DiRaimo (Cranston, R.I.) lifted a two-out double to right center, advanced to third on the throw home, and then came full circle on a passed ball.

Senior right fielder Kim Lastowski (Turners Falls, Mass.) blasted a two-run single in the bottom of the fifth to give Elms an 8-4 lead.

Williams added an RBI double in the bottom of the sixth frame to give the Blazers their ninth run of the contest.

The bottom third of Elms’ lineup went a combined 8 for 10, highlighted by three hits apiece from DiRaimo and Williams. Sophomore first baseman Alicia Campbell (Stoughton, Mass.) went 2 for 3 with a run scored, while DiRaimo crossed the dish three times. Williams and Lastowski each drove in two runs in the win.

Sophomore pitcher Courtney Hampton (Westfield, Mass.) was sensational in the circle, fanning eight batters in a complete-game effort to earn her first win of the season.

Hope Benjamin (Rochester, Mass.) smashed a deep solo home run to left center to highlight a 2 for 3 day at the plate, while Shannon Hurley (Billerica, Mass.) was 2 for 4 with one RBI and a run scored for Regis.

The Pride received a four-inning, three-strikeout effort from starter Maryssa Allen (Attleboro, Mass.) who suffered the loss and falls to 0-11 on the year.

Game Two – Regis 11, Elms 7

Elms broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the third frame of game two to take a 3-0 lead in the game when Lipscomb and sophomore third baseman Kelly Callahan (Monson, Mass.) connected for run-scoring singles. Junior pitcher Destinee Meeker (Bantam, Conn.) followed that with an RBI fielder’s choice to highlight the inning.

Regis answered with two runs in the top of the fourth, and exploded for five in the top of the fifth to take a 7-3 lead. The Pride received an RBI base knock from Caitlin Luquet (Walnut Creek, Calif.), a run-scoring fielder’s choice off the bat of Kendra Abram (Acushnet, Mass.) and a two run single by Rachel Cavella (West Roxbury, Mass.) to highlight the five-run frame.

Elms pulled to within one in the home half of the fifth when Lastowski singled through the left side, and Lipscomb reached on an infield error to start the stanza. Both runners advanced into scoring position on a passed ball before junior reliever Andrea Ramsdell (Gardner, Mass.) smoked a two-run single up the middle. Senior second baseman Ally Graffum (Ipswich, Mass.) added an RBI groundout to cut the deficit to 7-6.

The Pride extended the lead back to three in the top of the sixth, and Elms brought it back to two with a run in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI groundout by Callahan.

Regis struck for two insurance runs on RBI singles by Hurley and Luquet in the top of the seventh to post an 11-7 lead.

Graffum led off the home half of the seventh with an infield single and advanced as far as third but could not score as Abram held the Blazers scoreless to secure the four-run win.

The win was Abram’s first of the season (1-2). She tossed all seven innings and recorded three strikeouts.

Ramsdell came on for Meeker in the fourth and pitched the rest of the game. She struck out two batters in the losing effort to fall to 0-7 on the season.

Lipscomb and Williams collected two hits each, while Callahan and Ramsdell drove in two runs apiece.

Luquet finished with three hits for the Pride, while Benjamin, Cavella and Molly Texeira (Rindge, N.H.) added two each.

Elms opens its New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) slate with a doubleheader at Bay Path College on Tuesday, April 6. Game one is slated to start at 3:30 p.m.