Benjamin’s Grand Slam Lifts Regis College Past Softball, 5-4

WESTON, Mass. – Elms College senior pitcher Destinee Meeker (Bantam, Conn.) tossed six shutout innings but Regis College's Hope Benjamin (Rochester, Mass.) launched a grand slam to spark a five-run sixth inning and lift the Pride to a 5-4 win over the Blazers in Thursday evening's non-conference softball game in Weston, Mass.

With the loss, Elms moves to 12-10 overall, while Regis improves to 2-30 on the season.

Trailing 4-0 in the bottom of the sixth, Regis' Amanda Carlson (Ayer, Mass.) drove in Kara Donovan (Woburn, Mass.) with the Pride's first run on a single loading the bases for Benjamin who connected for her seventh home run of the season putting Regis on top 5-4.

Elms placed a runner in scoring position with two outs in the top of the seventh but a strikeout by Kendra Abram (Acushnet, Mass.) sealed the come-from-behind victory for the Pride.

Abram pitched the final two innings for Regis and earned the victory to improve to 2-17 on the season. Meeker suffered the loss for the Blazers and falls to 7-5 overall.

After the sides played three scoreless innings, Elms took a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth when sophomore catcher Sarah Buckley (Wilbraham, Mass.) cracked a leadoff single, moved to second when freshman left fielder Isaira Caraballo (Springfield, Mass.) reached on an error and then scored when freshman first baseman Allyson Witaszek (Feeding Hills, Mass.) laced a one-out RBI single to give the Blazers a 1-0 edge. An RBI groundout by sophomore second baseman Alexandra Bonavita (Agawam, Mass.) gave Elms a 2-0 lead before a groundout ended the inning.

The Blazers added two more runs in the top of the fifth inning when Butt delivered an RBI groundout and Caraballo drove in a run on a base hit to give Elms a 4-0 lead setting up Regis' late-game dramatics.

Prior to the sixth inning, Meeker allowed just three hits and struck out one before running into trouble.

Butt and Witaszek finished with two hits apiece in the loss, while Butt, Witaszek, Caraballo and Bonavita each drove in a run.

Elms returns to New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) action with a doubleheader at Mitchell College on Saturday, April 16 beginning at 12:00 p.m. in New London, Conn.