Softball Falls To Anna Maria College And Eastern Nazarene College On Opening Day
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Eastern Nazarene | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 11 | 17 | 4 |
|
Elms | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 1 |
| TOP 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Anna Maria | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 2 |
|
Elms | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
CAPE CORAL, Fla. - The Elms College softball team lost 6-2 to Anna Maria College and 11-5 to Eastern Nazarene College on opening day of the 2011 Gene Cusic Classic in Cape Coral, Fla.
With its two losses, Elms starts its campaign 0-2 overall.
Anna Maria 6, Elms 2
Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the second, Elms' freshman first baseman Allyson Witaszek (Feeding Hills, Mass.) drew a leadoff walk and eventually came full circle, cutting Anna Maria's lead to 2-1. Later in the frame, senior right fielder Alison McBride (East Providence, R.I.) reached on an infield error and also scored to even the game at 2-2.
The AMCATS crossed the plate again in the top of the third when Mary Moroski drove in Tabitha Ruggeri with a run-scoring single.
Anna Maria got some insurance in the top of the sixth, plating three runs to post a comfortable 6-2 lead which it held through the final inning.
Eastern Nazarene 11, Elms 5
Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth, Blazers' sophomore center fielder Leah Spring (South Hadley, Mass.) reached on an infield error and then galloped home on an RBI three-bagger by freshman left fielder Isaira Caraballo (Springfield, Mass.) to tie the game at 3-3. An RBI single off the bat of junior shortstop Jenna Lipscomb (Cambridge, Mass.) scored Caraballa and gave Elms a 4-3 advantage. McBride earned a walk and later scored the Blazers' third run of the stanza, lifting the lead to 5-3.
Eastern Nazarene scored twice in the top of the fifth to set the score at 5-5, and then exploded for six runs in the top of the sixth inning to stake an 11-5 lead.
Sophomore third baseman Rachel Butt (Agawam, Mass.) blasted a one-out single in the bottom of the sixth but that's the only base runner Elms had over the final two innings as Eastern Nazarene retired the final five batters in order to record the 11-5 victory.
Elms returns to Gene Cusic Classic action on Sunday, March 6 when it squares off against Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) at 1:00 p.m. and Wilmington (Ohio) at 3:00 p.m.
