Softball Swept By Norwich

NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University softball team blasted four home runs in their 2014 home debut en route to a sweep of Anna Maria College on Thursday in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action at the NU Softball Field.

Norwich (16-12, 11-7 GNAC) rallied from an early 4-0 deficit in Game 1, to score eight runs in its final three at-bats all of home runs to take the opener 8-4. The Cadets' kept the offensive momentum rolling in the nightcap, pounding out 11 hits on their way to a 9-1 win in six innings over the AMCATS.

Anna Maria (3-27, 1-17 GNAC) got off to a quick start with two runs in the top of the first and then two more in the top of the third to race out to an early 4-0 lead on NU starting pitcher Kaylie Miller (Long Lake, N.Y.).

Kaitlyn Moran drove home Samantha Miller twice with RBI hits in her first two trips to the plate to lead the AMCATS. Moran went 3-for-3 with a run scored in Game 1. She scored Anna Maria's second run when Kayla Garcynski drove her home with a RBI double in the first.

Norwich finally got its offense going in the bottom of the fourth with senior third baseman Brian Day (Yelm, Wash.) knocking her first home run of the season and 11^th of her career. Rome and George also came around to score to cut the Anna Maria lead to 4-3.

After Miller shut the door in the top of the fifth, senior Melissa Rome (Enfield, Conn.) blasted a home run to put Norwich on top for good. Miller and Kelly Travers (Whitman, Mass.) came home to score as well after they opened the inning with back-to-back singles.

Sophomore outfielder Payton Warner (Harwich, Mass.) capped the scoring in Game 1 with a two-run shot in the bottom of the sixth innings to increase the Norwich lead to 8-4. Sophomore Justina George (Wallingford, Conn.) scored on the hit and finished with two hits for the Cadets. 

Miller picked up her fourth win of the season and first since April 1 in a win over Lasell. Miller pitched a complete game, surrendering three earned runs on eight hits and one walk while striking out two.

Norwich continued its offensive surge in Game 2 with senior shortstop Abby Belcher (Winthrop, Mass.) blasting a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning to put the Cadets up for good.

Every Cadet starter in the lineup recorded at least one hit with Warner and Rome notching two hits apiece to lead the offense. Belcher had three RBIs for Norwich, while Rome and sophomore Taylor Morris (Haverhill, N.H.) had two RBIs.

Morris also picked up her first victory of the season on the mound, going six innings giving up just one earned run on five hits while striking out four and walking two.

Nichole Lowe had two hits for Anna Maria in Game 2 and she was also saddled with the loss on the mound after giving up five earned runs on nine hits in four innings pitched.

Norwich has won five of its last seven games and maintained its one-game lead on Albertus Magnus for fifth place in the GNAC standings. The Cadets are two games back of Simmons for fourth place and they'll now go head-to-head against the Sharks on Friday in a big doubleheader showdown with the Sharks at Brandeis University. NU closes out the 2014 regular season by hosting Johnson & Wales on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. Norwich can clinch a home first-round game with one victory over the weekend or a loss by Suffolk.