04/23/2009
NEWMAC Softball Tournament: Cougars Stay Alive with 1-1 Mark

WELLESLEY, Mass.  Junior Melissa Traft (Milton, Mass.) went 4-for-4 and drove in three runs, including the eventual game-winner, and sophomore Sarah Carter (Worcester, Mass.) picked up her 11th win of the season to lead the third-seed Clark University softball team to a 5-3 victory over WPI in the first round of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament played at Wellesley College on Thursday afternoon.

With the victory, the Cougars moved on to play #2 Wellesley in their second game of the double-elimination tournament. Clark fell to the Blue, 8-0 in six innings.

Clark will take on fourth-seed Babson College, which lost to Springfield College in its opening round game, on Saturday (10 am) at top-seed Coast Guard.

In the opener, both teams remained scoreless for more than half the game, as WPI starter Allie Hardy (Townsend, MA) and Clark starter Meghan Lennon (Charlton, MA) each posted zeroes through the first four innings. WPI produced three hits while Clark had six base hits in the first four innings, with each failing to score.

WPI was able to break up the scoreless game in the top of the fifth, plating a run on four singles to take a 1-0 lead. Kelly Johnson (Buxton, ME) and Meg Foley (Belchertown, MA) produced back-to-back one-out singles before Kim Martilla (Kings Park, NY) drove Johnson home with the game's first run with a base hit up the middle.

Clark was able to break through in the bottom half of the inning however, taking the lead away from the Engineers. Lauren Blake (Oakland, ME) led off the inning with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice, and came around to score on Traft's RBI single to tie the score. Traft would later score following a Darcy Kurashige-Elliott (Berkeley, CA) single to center and a Joanna Clark (Windham, ME) groundout, giving the home Cougars a 2-1 lead.

The Engineers responded immediately in their half of the sixth, scoring twice to regain the advantage. Allie Roche (Chelmsford, MA) led off the WPI sixth with a walk and moved to second on a sac bunt to start the rally. Nicole Maglione (Charlton, MA) followed and was able to reach via a passed ball on a strikeout that advanced Roche to third. Roche would then score on a fielding error, while Maglione later scored on a Foley RBI groundout to right field, giving WPI a 3-2 lead.

Clark came back with three runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 5-3 lead. Lennon pinch ran for Kate Tutela, who was hit by a pitch, to lead off the frame. After Erin Murphy sacrificed Lennon to second, base hits from Stefanie Kettenacker (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY) and Blake tied the game and set the Cougars up with runners at the corners and one out. Blake stole second, which was key to Clark picking up an insurance run as Traft came through with a single to right that plated both runners and gave the home club a 5-3 lead heading into WPI's last at-bat.

Traft led Clark offensively, while Blake was 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI for the victors. Carter picked up the win for Clark in relief, tossing two innings without allowing an earned run. Lennon went the first five, allowing one earned run on seven hits, striking out two.

Hardy (10-6) went the distance for the Engineers, allowing five runs on 12 hits over six innings. Martori and senior catcher Sara Migdal (Galway, NY) led WPI with two hits each.

In game two, senior Barbarajean Grundlock (Blackwood, NJ) threw her second no-hitter of the year, as Wellesley shutout Clark.

Grundlock (13-8) pitched a gem, throwing six innings, allowing only two baserunners the entire game and striking out 13.

Wellesley took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning as sophomore Sinta Cebrian (Seattle, WA) hit a shot over the left field fence for the first homerun of her career.

The Blue added a five-run fifth inning, aided by four walks given up by Clark pitching. Brittany Bakacs (Millstone Township, NJ) opened the inning with a base-on-balls, and was sacrified to second by Elora Daniele (Belle Mead, NJ). After a Cougar miscue allowed Megan Townsend (Saline, MI) to reach base, Bakacs stole home and Townsend advanced to second. The next batter, Jessie Haladyna (St. John's, FL), worked a walk and Ilana Orloff (Weston, MA) picked up an infield single to load the bases for Wellesley. The Blue increased the lead to 4-0 after back-to-back RBI walks from Alison Davis (Glen Ellyn, IL) and Megan Wood (Jacksonville, FL). After a fly-out, Alex Warren (Delta, BC) drove in two more runs on a single to right center that put Wellesley in front, 6-0.

The Blue closed the door on the game in the bottom of the sixth inning, as Daniele and Townsend opened with matching bunt singles. After a walk to Haladyna, Davis lifted a single to right center to plate two and seal the 8-0 Wellesley victory.

Offensively for the Blue (20-12-1, 1-0), Davis finished the game with three RBI while Warren drove in a pair of runs. Orloff and Daniele both recorded two-hit performances on the afternoon.

Clark (17-17, 1-1) had only two baserunners the entire game, as Joanna Clark (Windham, ME) and Erin Murphy (Boxboro, MA) both worked walks for the Cougars.

Lennon suffered the loss for Clark, throwing 4.1 innings, allowing six runs (four earned) on four hits. Sarah Carter (Worcester, MA) came on in relief, throwing one inning, allowing two runs on four hits.

Wellesley will take on #4 Springfield (2-0) who was a 3-1 winner over #1 Coast Guard (0-1) on Saturday at 2pm.

Courtesy of Wellesley College Sports Information