MILTON, Mass. - In a showdown between two of the top teams in The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC), the Western New England College softball squad split a doubleheader with host Curry Friday (April 24) taking the opener 2-1 before dropping a 3-2 decision in the nightcap at D. Forbes Will Field.
The Golden Bears are 23-10 overall and second in the league with a 14-4 mark.
The Colonels have a 25-14 ledger and are fourth in the conference at 16-7.
In the first game, senior pitcher Laura Bower (Hudson, MA) turned in a strong performance giving up six hits while striking out four and walking four. She raised her record to 9-5.
WNEC scored the winning run when freshman shortstop Sara Barnes (Berkley, MA) led off the seventh with a single and advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches. Junior centerfielder Lauren Arsenault (Fitchburg, MA) delivered the winning run with a groundout.
Western New England College took a 1-0 lead in the fourth on a two-out RBI double by sophomore catcher Elyse Gauvin (Swansea, MA).
Senior shortstop Christina Sancinito (Wakefield, MA) tied the contest with a RBI single in the fifth.
In the second contest, sophomore pitcher Amanda Peters (East Bridgewater, MA) fired a two-hitter with a strikeout and no earned runs for the Colonels.
The Golden Bears tallied single runs in the first and second before the hosts plated two runs in the fourth and the game-winner in the fifth on a RBI single by senior catcher Lauren Tobey (Lynn, MA).
Gauvin had a single and run scored for the Golden Bears while Barnes had the other hit.
Freshman Sarah Lempicki (Southington, CT) (6-3) took the loss in relief.
