Softball Downs WPI 10-9; Loses To Wilmington (Ohio), 7-3

CAPE CORAL, Fla. – The Elms College softball team earned a split in Sunday's action at the Gene Cusic Classic as the Blazers downed Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) 10-9 before losing to Wilmington College (Ohio), 7-3 in the nightcap.

With the split, Elms moves to 1-3 on the season, WPI falls to 0-1 on the season and Wilmington improves to 2-0 overall.

Elms 10, WPI 9

Elms scored twice in the top of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead and scored three times in the second as freshman first baseman Allyson Witaszek (Feeding Hills, Mass.), sophomore center fielder Leah Spring (South Hadley, Mass.) and junior shortstop Jenna Lipscomb (Cambridge, Mass.) each reached on errors and eventually all scored to give the Blazers a 5-0 lead.

Junior right-handed pitcher Courtney Hampton (Westfield, Mass.) kept WPI off the board until the Engineers sent 11 batters to the plate and scored six times in the bottom of the fourth to take a 6-5 lead.

Elms answered in the top of the fifth using six hits to plate five runs and post a 10-6 advantage.

Hampton doubled in the frame, while sophomore third baseman Rachel Butt (Agawam, Mass.), sophomore catcher Sarah Buckley (Wilbraham, Mass.), sophomore second baseman Alexandra Bonavita (Agawam, Mass.), Spring and senior right fielder Alison McBride (East Providence, R.I.) each tallied singles.

WPI scored more three times but could not put across the equalizer as Elms held on for a 10-9 win.

Lipscomb finished with a pair of doubles, Bonavita collected two base hits and Buckley delivered two doubles and a single to highlight the winning effort.

Hampton struck out four batters and earned the victory to move to 1-1 overall.

Wilmington (Ohio) 7, Elms 3

Trailing 3-0 in the top of the third, Elms pulled to within one with a pair of runs when Witaszek led off the stanza with a walk and then came full circle when Spring reached on an error. Spring later scored when Lipscomb reached on a Wilmington miscue to set the score at 3-2.

McBride scored in the top of the sixth inning to knot the contest at 3-3 but the Quakers responded with a four-run home half of the inning to claim a 7-3 win.

Wilmington's right-handed hurler Danielle Monnier (Houston, Texas) struck out 10 batters and limited the Blazers to just one hit to pick up the win for the Quakers.

Elms returns to Gene Cusic Classic action on Tuesday, March 8 when it squares off against Rockford College at 9:00 a.m. and Kenyon College at 11:00 a.m.