SPRINGFIELD, Mass. â€" It wasn’t easy, but the Western New England College softball team ran its winning streak to 22 games with a 4-3, 8-6 doubleheader sweep over visiting Suffolk in a battle of unbeaten Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) teams Friday.
The Golden Bears are now 26-4 overall and 18-0 in the conference. Coach Lori Mayhew’s team has won 62 consecutive regular season GNAC contests since 2004. The Rams, under first-year coach Vicki Schull, are now 19-7 and 12-2.
In the first game, sophomore second base player Steph Ganser (Fairfield, CT) belted a two-out walk-off homer over the left field fence in the bottom of the seventh for the winning run. She had two hits in four at-bats.
The Golden Bears took a 3-0 lead in the second thanks to RBI singles by senior catcher Kristy Kehoss (Cheshire, CT) and senior left fielder Jen Piorkowski (Trumbull, CT). Sophomore first base player Jackie Card (Greenfield, MA) had two singles in three at-bats.
Freshman Laura Bower (Hudson, MA) was cruising along with a one-hitter entering the seventh when the Rams loaded the bases with two outs. Senior third base player Ashleigh Belanger (Billerica, MA) singled up the middle to drive in two runs with the tying run coming home on an error. Bower gave up four hits, struck out five and didn’t allow a walk in raising her record to 8-1.
Western New England College scored four unearned in the fifth inning of the second game to bounce back from a 3-2 deficit. Sophomore third base player Meredith Pacelli (Hamden, CT) went 2-for-3 with a homer. Senior first base player Erin Whitcomb (North Walpole, NH) had a single, double, and two runs while freshman center fielder Toni Hand (Londonderry, NH) contributed two singles, run, and RBI.
Sophomore Alex Paterson (Deep River, CT) gave up seven hits, struck out seven and walk three in 6 1/3 innings to improve to 10-2. Freshman Amanda Poyant (Barnstable, MA) got the final two outs after the Rams rallied with three runs in the seventh for her third save.
Senior shortstop Angie Belanger (Poland Springs, ME) went 3-for-4 with two runs while junior left fielder Jackie Zwicker (South Easton, MA) had two singles. Senior catcher Brenna Burr (Beaver, PA) had a three RBI, including a two-run double in the seventh.
