Lasell Falls Short Against Lesley

Lasell Falls Short Against Lesley
NEWTON, MA- Lesley University (8-4) won a pair of games against the Lasell College (4-16) softball squad today on Taylor Field in non-league play, taking the first contest 3-2 and the second 9-3.
 

The Lynx and the Lasers  were tied after the first inning of game one at one apiece.  Lesley struck at the top of the inning when Jessica Guevara (Nantucket, MA) reached on a Lasell error then stole second and a Cunningham RBI single which brought her home.

 

Lasell countered with a Rachelle Haas (Middleton, MA) unearned run after a single down the right field line earned her first base and a sacrifice bunt by Talia DeChiara (Kingston, MA) moved her into scoring position.  Haas took third on an error by Lesley's third baseman and a sacrifice fly by Kirsten Mammola (North Reading, MA) brought the Laser in to knot the score at the bottom of one.

 

In the third, Lesley tacked on another unearned run after Emily Mangiaratti (Amherst, MA) was awarded first on a miscue in the Lasers' outfield. Geuvara drove a shot into center field to send Mangiaratti all the way from first to home. The final Lynx run was plated in the top of the sixth when Ashley Cunningham (Mountain Top, PA) homered deep over the center field fence.

 

Two hits and a walk gave Lasell their final run in the game in the bottom of the sixth. DeChiara took base on balls followed by a double by Candace Hankard (Wakefield, MA) which flew up the middle.  Mammola produced her second RBI of the game with a base hit that bounced back at the pitcher and through to center field.

 

In the bottom of the seventh and down by one run, Kerrie Starkey (Keene, NH) walked with two outs to put the tying run on base in Lasell's last ups.  Marissa McHugh (Plymouth, MA) stepped in as a pinch hitter and wrapped a double into right center field to score Starkey and even the score. Unfortunately for the Lasers, Lasell was charged with an automatic out on McHugh who was called as an illegal substitution, which resulted in the final out and ended the game 3-2 in favor of the Lynx.

 

Cunningham finished the game with two RBI and a run on two hits while Guevara and Maria Nazzaro (North Reading, MA) added the only two hits of the game for the Lynx. Cassandra Knox (Sea Cliff, NY) pitched a complete game allowing five hits, and one earned run and retiring four Laser batters on K's.

 

Mammola was the losing pitcher for Lasell, yielding just one earned run and five hits while striking out two Lynx.

 

The second game tied up 2-2 in the first inning after a Dorval single down the right field line crossed Brixley and Mangiaratti. Lasell's response was a two-RBI base hit by Ashley Laramie (Lynn, MA) into left field which plated Hankard and DeChiara.

 

Laramie and Hankard gave the Lasers their first lead of the day in the third inning when Hankard scored, unearned, on a sacrifice fly by Laramie. Lasell held the 3-2 lead for just the rest of the half inning as Lesley's Nazzaro drove in the game-tying run in the top of the fourth with a sacrifice fly to center field bringing in Rian Powers (Portland, ME).

 

The game remained in a deadlock through the next two and half innings at which point Lesley put together a six-run top of the seventh to seal the game.  Dorval brought in the game-winning run with a single into center field and a Molly Sarson (Sanford, ME) single added an insurance run in the next at-bat with a single into right field scoring Cunningham. 

 

A three-RBI home run by Jenna Fralick (Woburn, MA) and an RBI double by Mangiaratti ended scoring for the game.

 

Dorval went 4-for-4 with three RBI and a run of her own in the game while Fralick added three RBI and a run on two hits and a walk. Mangiaratti went 3-for-5 with a run and an RBI and Guevara added two more hits and a run to her stat line for the day.

 

Laramie went 1-for-2 with three RBI and DeChiara, Mammola, and Kelly Silvia (Oak Bluffs, MA) added one hit each for the Lasers.

 

The loss went to freshman pitcher Samantha Whynot (Randolph, MA) in four innings of relief.  Sophomore starter Alison Saluti (Braintree, MA) pitched the first three innings giving up just two earned runs and striking out three with one walk.

 

Dorval pitched a complete game to pick up the win ceding just four hits and three earned runs while making eight strikeouts.

 

Lasell will return to Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action on the road on Saturday, April 9th when they face Johnson & Wales University in a doubleheader set to begin at noon.