Softball Swept by Bay Path College

LONGMEADOW, Mass. – The Elms College softball team suffered a pair of New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) losses to Bay Path College, both by scores of 2-1, on Sunday afternoon in Longmeadow, Mass.

With the losses, Elms moves to 7-11 overall, 5-5 in league play, while Bay Path improves to 6-12 on the season, 5-5 in NECC action.

Game One: Bay Path 2, Elms 1 (9 innings)

In game one, junior pitcher Beth Grimes (Terryville, Conn.) allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits and struck out 14 in 8.2 innings pitched.

Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the ninth, Anna Meyer (Millbrook, N.Y.) drove in a pair of runners with a two-run single to give the Wildcats a thrilling, hard-fought victory.

After eight scoreless innings, Elms' junior Rachel Beery (Springfield, Mass.) lifted a pinch-hit sacrifice fly to center field plating senior right fielder Kellie McLaughlin (Pittsfield, Mass.) with the go-ahead run before Bay Path responded with Meyer's heroics.

Blazers' junior shortstop Gina DiGiovanni (Springfield, Mass.) was 2 for 3 in the losing effort, while Wildcats' starting pitcher Keelin Dougherty (Northfield, N.H.) allowed one unearned run and scattered five hits to seal the win.

Game Two: Bay Path 2, Elms 1

In the second game, the teams again played a close contest. Bay Path took the lead in the bottom of the fifth frame on an RBI single by Marina Rhodes (Providence, R.I.).

The Blazers answered with a run in the top of the seventh on an RBI single by McLaughlin, but the Wildcats responded when Katherine Chabot (Brookfield, Mass.) singled, stole second and then scored on a two-base overthrow to give the Wildcats at 2-1 victory. 

Chabot had three hits in the win for Bay Path and Dougherty earned her second win in the circle.

Elms' junior Jessica Colson (Agawam, Mass.) fanned 10 batters but suffered the game two loss.

Elms is back in action on Tuesday, April 15 when it hosts Daniel Webster College in NECC action at Cheryl R. Condon Field at 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.