Salve Regina, Roger Williams split CCC twinbill at Toppa

NEWPORT, R.I. (Sunday, April 18, 2021) - Junior right hander Maddy Fluke (Douglas, Mass.) started both games at pitcher for Salve Regina University in a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) softball doubleheader with Roger Williams University and allowed just two earned runs over 8.1 innings, winning the opener for the Seahawks, 4-2, before the Hawks gained revenge with a 9-3 final in the second game.

Junior infielder Nikki Vanelli (Quakertown, Pa.) went 2-for-2 with a run scored and a base on balls in the opener as Salve Regina (7-7; 5-5 CCC) scored three of its four runs in the opening frame. Vanelli doubled to open the inning and advanced to third on a Kaitlyn Bennett (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) single before scoring on a throwing error. Freshman infielder Maddie Capetta (Raritan, N.J.) singled home Bennett before crossing the plate herself on a single to right field by designated player Jessica Roberts (Dix Hills, N.Y.).

From the final out of the second through the sixth inning, Fluke retired 13 straight Roger Williams batters.

Freshman infielder Christina Braid (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) led off the Seahawk sixth with a single to shortstop. Drew Ceppetelli (Barrington, N.H.) followed with a slash single to the pitcher. After relief pitcher Taylor Myers (East Haven, Conn.) got the next two Seahawks on easy pop outs, Sophia Strazza (Wilton, Conn.) delivered a two-out RBI single that scored Braid for a 4-0 lead.

A pair of unearned runs against Fluke in the Hawk seventh inning included an RBI single by catcher Francesca Cioffi (Brewster, N.Y.) and the deficit was cut in half, 4-2, before Fluke induced a pop out to Braid at first and a ground out to Capetta at short to end the game.

Fluke started the second game with an unearned run after retiring the first two Hawks including a strikeout looking. Right fielder Tara Chatowsky (North Kingstown, R.I.) singled up the middle and moved to third on a Katrina Goria (Wyckoff, N.J.) single before scoring after an infield error kept the inning alive. The lead grew to 3-0 in the second when Sydney Provencal (Cumberland, R.I.) tripled in Liz Peters (North Kingstown, R.I.) before touching home after a wild pitch.

A two-run double by Vanelli plated freshman center fielder Francesa Rubino (Burlington, Mass.), who had doubled, and Strazza after the latter two had one-out basehits.

Holding a 3-2 lead, Roger Williams (13-13; 7-7 CCC) scored three times in the fourth after two were out. A Tara Chatowsky single produced one run before Goria doubled in two more.

The Seahawks got a single run in the bottom of the frame on a single by Kendall Duprey (Cranston, R.I.) to cut the deficit to 6-3. In the fifth, Maddie Predaris (Rye, N.H.) singled in pinch-runner Isabelle Rosado (Central Islip, N.Y.) to regain a four-run cushion, 7-3, before Provencal ripped a two-out, two-run double in the seventh for the final score, 9-3.

Fluke earned the decision in both games for the Seahawks and runs her record to 5-3 on the season. Lia Nocella (Tyngsboro, Mass.) took the loss in the opener for Roger Williams to fall to 8-4 overall. Starter Ellie Fleming (Marshfield, Mass.) earned her second win of the season for the Hawks.

The teams will meet in Bristol, R.I., on Wednesday for a pair of conference tilts.