Mitchell Walks Off With Twinbill Sweep of Softball

NEW LONDON, Conn. – After winning game one of their New England Collegiate Conference doubleheader by a 3-0 final, the Mitchell College softball team punctuated a sweep of Elms College with a 2-1, walk-off win in the second game on Friday afternoon at Alumni Field.

Mitchell freshman Samantha DelConte (Enfield, Conn./Enrico Fermi) delivered the game-winning hit in game two, a single through the left side of the infield with the bases loaded. Pitcher Brittany Fiederlein (Hampton, Conn./Sport & Medical Sciences Academy)picked up both wins in the circle for the Mariners and also homered at the plate.

The wins were Mitchell's first of the season and the first in the collegiate coaching career of Allison Wigand. The Mariners improved to 2-10 overall (2-0 NECC) while the Blazers dropped to 1-9 overall (0-2 NECC).

Mitchell will next host Lesley University on Tuesday, April 7 at 3:30 p.m. Elms returns to action against Newbury College on Saturday, April 4 at Rotch Field (Boston, Mass.) at 4 p.m.

Neither side put a run on the scoreboard until Mitchell's bats came alive in the fifth inning. With two outs and nobody on base, consecutive doubles by DelConte, Lindsey Romagnino (Totowa, N.J./Passaic Valley) and Dylan Riccardi (Elmont, N.Y./Sewanhaka) gave the Mariners their first two runs of the contest.

Elms threatened in the sixth by putting runners on second and third with only one out, but a heads-up play by Romagnino at shortstop kept the Blazers scoreless. With the infield playing in, Romagnino fielded a ground ball and froze the lead runner between home and third. After charging the runner and applying the tag for the first out, Romagino then wheeled and fired to third to retire the trail runner and end the inning.

Mitchell tacked on an insurance run in the sixth on a two-out single to center by Romagnino that scored Jenny Groman (New Britain, Conn./Sport & Medical Sciences Academy). Fiederlein wouldn't need the added cushion, however, as she didn't allow a hit in the seventh inning to secure the shutout.

Fiederlein, who didn't allow a hit until the fifth inning, struck out six and walked only one in 7.0 innings of work. She yielded only three hits in the game to pick up her first win of the season. Elms pitcher Bethany Grimes (Terryville, Conn./Terryville) gave up three runs on eight hits in 6.0 innings and struck out seven while walking three.

in the nightcap, Elms jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning off Mitchell starter Rivkah Berkman (New London, Conn./Saint Bernard). The Blazers manufactured the run with two outs as Gina DiGiovanni (Springfield, Mass./Cathedral) worked a walk, stole second base and scored on a single to center field by Grimes.

The Blazers held the one-run advantage until the fourth inning when Fiederlein drilled a solo home run over the left field fence to tie the game. The long ball was her first of the season and second of her career.

Both teams squandered scoring chances over the next two innings. Elms left a pair of runners in scoring position in the fifth while Mitchell stranded the go-ahead run on second base in the sixth.

The Blazers had another crack at it in the seventh as Ashley Reid (Enfield, Conn./Enfield) slapped a ball just over the third baseman and out of the reach of a diving Romagnino. Reid ended up at second base with a double after the ball took a crazy hop, but she didn't go any further as Fiederlein—who entered the game in a relief role in the fifth—got the final two outs to keep it a 1-1 game.

The Mariners recorded four of their eight hits in the seventh inning to plate the winning run. Danielle Autieri (North Salem, N.Y./John Jay) led off with a single up the middle and moved to second on a single by Groman. After the Blazers picked up an out, Berkman laid down a perfect bunt in front of the catcher to load the bases, and DelConte followed with a single through the left side for the first walk-off hit of her collegiate career.

Fiederelin (2-5 overall) tossed 3.0 innings of shutout ball and gave up only three hits. Berkman allowed just one run and two hits over 4.0 innings and struck out five. Elms starter Jessica Colson (Agawam, Mass./Agawam) gave up two runs on eight hits and struck out four in 6.1 innings of work.