Lasers Top AMCATS in Two

Newton, Mass. – The Anna Maria College softball team dropped a pair of Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) games to the Lasers of Lasell College on Friday afternoon. The Lasers took a close 3-2 victory in game one before notching an 11-2 victory in game two. The AMCATS fall to 4-24 on the season and 2-16 in conference play while the Lasers improve to 6-26 overall and 2-16 in the GNAC.

GAME ONE

Victoria Falco (Marlborough, Mass.) and Jaqueline Lapierre (Worcester, Mass.) led the AMCATS in game one as the each went one for three at the plate with one RBI. Senior, Alexis Romano (Lowell, Mass.) pitched a full game allowing six hits and three runs (two earned).

Erin Smith went two for three at the plate with one RBI to help lift the Lasers to victory. Arianna Genovese went one for three with one RBI and Esther Plouffe went two for three on the day for Lasell.

Nicole Arcese earned the victory on the mound for the home team. She pitched a full game scattering five hits, two runs (one earned) and eight strikeouts. She improves her record to 3-11 this season.

Lasell got things started in the bottom of the third inning with an RBI double to left field from Smith and an RBI single to left field from Genovese to score Smith for the 2-0 lead.

Anna Maria tallied a run in the top of the fourth inning when a single to right field from Falco scored Amanda Lemire (Methuen, Mass.) to tighten the Lasers lead to 2-1. The AMCATS tied it up in the top of the fifth with an RBI single to right field from Lapierre (2-2).

The bottom of the seventh was the deciding inning of the game as Mazie Baldarelli crossed home plate for the home team to prevent the game from extra innings. The Lasers took the ultimate 3-2 victory.

GAME TWO

Lasell took an 11-2 mercy-rule victory in game two of the day. Mackenzie Shurtleff (Wareham, Mass.) and Hannah Trudo (Pomfret Center, Conn.) earned the only two RBIs for Anna Maria. Sara Kline and Genovese both went two for three at the plate to lead the Lasers to victory. Smith went two for three with an RBI in game two for the home team.

Romano took the loss on the mound for the AMCATS while Krystel Enko earned the victory. Enko allowed just five hits and two runs (two earned) while striking out four batters in five innings. She improves her record to 3-9 this season.

The Lasers crushed 14 hits in the shortened nightcap.

The AMCATS pushed two runs across on five hits, as Kaitlyn Moran (Leicester, Mass.) batted .500 on a 2-for-2 showing.

As the scoreboard read 1-1 after 1 ½ innings, the AMCATS' run was bookended by a four and six run inning from the Lasers, respectively, to grant the home team a commanding 10-1 lead after three. Lasell ran with momentum after Ashley Gatchell, Enko, Smith, and Victoria Spellman crossed home in the fourth, as Enko then retired the side to set Lasell up for yet another powerful half inning. 

The AMCATS rallied in their last chances at the plate, as Coley worked a walk to juice the bases with Lapierre and Kathryn Rendock (Windsor, Conn.). Mackenzie Shurtleff  batted a run in on a bases-loaded walk, before Enko threw out the lead runner at home to preserve the nine-run lead. A final fly out to Arcese sealed the sweep for the Lasers, leaving all AMCATS on base.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Lasers return to conference action tomorrow in Standish, Maine for a twinbill against the Monks of St. Joseph's at 12:00 p.m. The AMCATS are on the road the same day, as they take on the Suffolk Rams in East Boston.