Softball Marches to 1-1 Split with Cadets in GNAC Opener

NASHUA, N.H.—The Anna Maria College softball team split a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) doubleheader with the Cadets of Norwich University on Tuesday afternoon in a neutral-site game held at Rivier University in Nashua, N.H.

The AMCAT won the first game 14-6 in five innings before Norwich rallied for a 6-0 shutout in game two.

With today's results, both teams now sit at 3-7 overall and 1-1 in GNAC play.

Anna Maria 14, Norwich 6 – Five Innings

Freshman Jacqueline Lapierre (Worcester, Mass.) and sophomore Amy Clement (Townsend, Mass.) combined for six of Anna Maria's 12 hits to lead Norwich to their first GNAC victory of 2015.

The AMCATS scored a run in the bottom of the first and four in the bottom of the second to take a 5-0 lead. The Cadets rallied for three runs in the top of the fourth and another in the top of the fourth, but Anna Maria combined for nine runs in the fourth and fifth innings to put the eight-run mercy rule into effect.

Junior Samantha Miller (Dudley, Mass.) and senior Justine Lalonde (Shirley, N.Y.) both batted in a team-high four runs. Senior Cristina Turley (Waterford, Conn.) hit an inside-the-park homerun.

Senior Nichole Lowe (Saugus, Mass.) earned her third win in the circle for Anna Maria, throwing five complete innings and scattering 10 hits, six RBI, and a walk.

Norwich had four different players tally a two hits. Melissa Rome (Enfield, Conn.) and Kassy Kazimierczak (Adams, Mass.) both hit homeruns for the Cadets.

Norwich pitcher Taylor Morris (Haverhill, N.H.) took the loss, scattering 12 hits, 11 earned runs and six walks while striking out two.

Norwich 6, Anna Maria 0

Norwich senior pitcher Corinne Baita (Rochester, N.H.) had a stellar performance in the circle, scattering four hits and a walk while striking out eight AMCAT batters to lead the Cadets to their first GNAC win of the season.

Baita had faced just one batter over the minimum through four innings until Lalonde and Turley hit back-to-back hits in the bottom of the fifth inning. The hosts added two more hittings in the bottom of the seventh.

The Cadets' offense wasted little time taking control, as Norwich posted a four-run first inning on the strength of three hits, including a three-RBI double by Kazimierczak.

Norwich added single tallies in the top of the fifth and sixth innigns to take the 6-0 win. Payton Warner (Harwich, Mass.), Sarah Perry (New Bedford, Mass.), and Rome all finished with two hits apiece. As a team, Norwich totaled 11 hits.

Anna Maria's Angela Vousboukis (Swampscott, Mass.) took the loss in the circle, scattering 11 hits, five earned runs and a walk in seven innings of action.

In addition to Lalonde and Turley, the AMCATS saw hits from Miller and Lindsay Bond (Webster, Mass.).

Anna Maria will return to action on Sunday in a GNAC doubleheader at Emmanuel that is slated to begin at noon.