Posted: Apr 07, 2019
Seahawks rebound after extra-inning setback
Game 1
Game 1
Salve Regina
(12-12, 4-3)
5
U. of New England
(14-8, 5-0)
6
| Final (10) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Salve Regina | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 3 |
|
U. of New England | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 4 |
Game 2
Game 2
Salve Regina
(13-12, 5-3)
3
U. of New England
(14-9, 5-1)
1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Salve Regina | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 0 |
|
U. of New England | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Taylor Depot (Auburn, Maine) gave the University of New England its only lead of the day with a 10th-inning walk-off hit in the opener of a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) softball twinbill with Salve Regina University at Nor'easter Diamond on Sunday (Apr. 7), as the hosts secured a 6-5 victory. The Seahawks bounced back to take the second contest by a 3-1 margin.
The game two result was the first league setback for the Nor'easters (14-9, 5-1 CCC), who are scheduled to entertain Plymouth State University on Tuesday. SRU (13-12) now stands with a 5-3 ledger in conference outings.
UNE's Avery Alberghini (Moretown, Vt.) pushed her season-long hitting streak to 21 games, with two singles in the initial match and a double later in the afternoon.
The Nor'easters needed two to tie in the last half of the 7th in GAME 1 (UNE 6-5), and got just that when Andrea Gosper (Wyoming, R.I.) sent an RBI-single into the right-center gap. It was the second time Alberghini scored on a Gosper hit; pinch runner Kaitlin Carson (Melrose, Mass.) also came around from first base on the play, with the aid of an outfield error.
Both sides stranded a runner at third during their at-bats in the 8th and 9th. Sydnee Bessler (Everett, Mass.) worked a 1-2-3 top of the 10th in the circle for UNE, before Depot finished things off with a one-out single up the middle that scored pinch runner Diana Roher (Mount Union, Pa.) from second.
Since a 13-inning game back in 2002, the 10 frames tied the longest UNE spent in competition in the 17 seasons since. The two of equal length during that span: a setback versus Keene State College in 2016, and a 2-1 triumph against Salve Regina in 2005.
Bessler earned her sixth win behind 10 strikeouts (7 in regulation), and allowed three earned runs. Her counterpart for the Seahawks, Andi Nelson (Candia, N.H.), conceded four more hits than Bessler but was tagged with only one earned run in the loss, while posting the same breakdown of strikeouts (10/7).
Errors gave SRU a 2-1 edge in the 2nd, and Nikki Vanelli (Quakertown, Pa.) added a home run over the left-field fence in the 3rd for a 3-1 lead. However, it was 3-2 later in the stanza before Gosper tied it up with a single.
The Nor'easters were well-positioned to go in front with the first two reaching in the 5th, but it was the Seahawks that took a 4-3 advantage in the 6th on an error. A squeeze bunt from Vanelli in the 7th established the two-run cushion for the visitors.
Gosper also recorded a triple for three hits benefiting the home squad. Caroline Schoenbucher (Barrington, N.H.) joined Alberghini with two hits.
Vanelli put Salve Regina ahead right away in GAME 2 (SRU 3-1) with an RBI-double after a single by Lindsey Florent (New Bedford, Mass.). UNE answered immediately, though, with a lead-off single from Schoenbucher and RBI-double by Alberghini in the bottom of the 1st.
It remained even at 1-1 until the 5th, when a double by Maddie Machado (Westport, Mass.) scored Amanda Riley (Barrington, N.H.), who began the inning with a double of her own. A couple plays later, Machado touched home on a single by Emilee Angell (Whitinsville, Mass.).
Seahawks starting pitcher Courtney Latta (Lowell, Mass.) left UNE runners at the corners when she exited after 5.2 innings, but Nelson came in to end the threat in the 6th and finished off the save in a 1-2-3 7th. Florent and Holly Kathios (Pelham, N.H.) led the SRU offense with two hits apiece.