Softball Sweeps by Southern Vermont College, 12-1 (5 Inn.) and 4-3

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College junior pitcher Beth Grimes (Terryville, Conn.) struck out a combined 17 batters and sophomore Kierstan Skinner (South Windsor, Conn.) cracked an in-the-park home run to help the Blazers post wins of 12-1 and 4-3 over Southern Vermont College in Tuesday's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) softball double header at Cheryl R. Condon Field.

With the wins, Elms improves to 11-13 overall, 9-7 in conference play, while Southern Vermont falls to 8-16 overall, 6-6 in league play.

Game One: Elms 12, Southern Vermont 1 (5 innings)

After Kierstan Skinner notched a two-run, in-the-park home run to give Elms a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first, the Blazers plated five in the bottom of the second on the strength of RBI singles by Kierstan Skinner, Grimes and senior first baseman Ally Witaszek (Feeding Hills, Mass.) and a run-scoring groundout by junior shortstop Gina DiGiovanni (Springfield, Mass.). Grimes also scored on a passed ball to give Elms a 7-0 lead.

Mallory Celeste (Gansevoort, N.Y.) drove Rachel Robtoy (Baltic, Conn.) home with the Mountaineers' lone run of the contest in the top of the fourth before the Blazers pushed across five more runs in the bottom of the fourth to lift the lead to 12-1.

Elms used four RBI doubles off the bats of Kierstan Skinner, senior third baseman Caitlee Carrier (Charlestown, Mass.), freshman Tessa Cote (Granby, Mass.) and senior right fielder Kellie McLaughlin (Pittsfield, Mass.) to cap the scoring.

Grimes allowed just one run on one hit and struck out eight batters in game one to improve to 5-5 in the circle. Emily Fleming (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) suffered the loss for Southern Vermont and moved to 4-6 on the season.

Kierstan Skinner was 3 for 3 with four RBI, while DiGiovanni, Carrier, Grimes, Witaszek, Cote and McLaughlin each had two hits in the winning effort.

Game Two: Elms 4, Southern Vermont 3

After three scoreless frames to start game two, Southern Vermont plated three runs in the top of the fourth when Shelby Jones (Hoosick Falls, N.Y.) reached on an RBI fielder's choice, Brianne Nichols (Watervliet, N.Y.) drove in a run when she reached on an error, and Kirstin Buchan (Albany, N.Y.) delivered a sacrifice fly to left field to give the Mountaineers a 3-0 advantage.

Elms answered in the home half of the fourth when freshman second baseman Meghan Shewchuk (Springfield, Mass.) pounded a single up the middle to drive in sophomore Taylor Skinner (South Windsor, Conn.) and Cote ripped a two-run, two-bagger to even the score at 3-3.

In the bottom of the fifth, senior Hayley Zisk (Baldwinville, Mass.) reached on a miscue allowing Kierstan Skinner to come home with what stood as the game-winning run and set the score at 4-3.  

In the top of the sixth, the Mountaineers used a leadoff walk by Celeste and an infield single by Nichols to put two runners on. A sacrifice bunt by Hannah Cross (Bennington, Vt.) advanced the runners 60 feet into scoring position before Grimes forced a line out and a strikeout to end the inning.

In the top of the seventh, Fleming singled and Robtoy reached on a Blazers' miscue to again give Southern Vermont two runners on base, but Grimes struck out the next two batters and induced a game-ending fly out to end the game at 4-3.

Shewchuk and Cote had two hits each in the winning effort, while Grimes (6-5) fanned nine batters to seal the win.

Hayley McDonald (Latham, N.Y.) struck out four hitters in six innings and suffered the loss to move to 4-5. Celeste and Fleming had two hits in the contest. 

Elms returns to non-league action on Wednesday, April 23 at 4:00 p.m. at Cheryl R. Condon Field.