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Western New England University

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Softball 4.21
0
Keene State KSC 5-22
1
Winner Western New England WNE 18-9
Keene State KSC
5-22
0
Final
1
Western New England WNE
18-9
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 R H E
Keene State KSC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Western New England WNE 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 0

W: Blanchard, Ava (9-3) L: Lilah Demmy (2-11)

6
Keene St. KEENE ST 5-23
7
Winner Western New Eng. WNE 19-9
Keene St. KEENE ST
5-23
6
Final
7
Western New Eng. WNE
19-9
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Keene St. KEENE ST 0 0 4 0 2 0 0 6 7 4
Western New Eng. WNE 6 0 0 0 1 0 X 7 6 1

W: Blanchard, Ava (10-3) L: M. Strzegows (1-2)

Game Recap: Softball |

Blanchard Shines, Earns Two Wins, Golden Bears Sweep the Owls on Senior Day

Springfield, Mass. (April 21, 2024) – The Golden Bear Softball team hosted Keene State College for WNE's Senior Day. The Golden Bears would win game one in dramatic fashion, with a walk-off single by Taylor Keegan, to win 1-0 in eight innings. The Golden Bears were led at the plate by Keegan, who went 2-for-4 with the game-winning RBI. Ava Blanchard pitched all eight innings, giving up one hit, no earned runs, and striking out five batters. The Golden Bears got the bats working in the second game, as was evident by their six-run first inning. However, the Owls did, too, and would tie the game at six by the fifth inning. However, Kailey Carrano hit a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth inning to lead the Golden Bears to a 7-6 win. Six Golden Bears got a hit in game two. Ava Blanchard earned a second win on the day by pitching 2.1 innings, letting up no hits or earned runs, and striking out one batter.

Records:

Western New England: 19-9 (7-3)

Keene State College: 5-23 (1-7)

Game 1: Western New England 1, Keene State 0 (8 Innings)

Lilah Demmy and Ava Blanchard were in the pitching circle for the Owls and Golden Bears in game one. Ava Blanchard started the game by striking out the first Keene State College batter and sitting the Owls down one, two, three. Demmy responded by sitting the Golden Bears down one, two, three in the bottom of the first. The second inning saw the same for both pitchers. Both Blanchard and Demmy would strike out one batter each in the second. The third saw the perfect games continue for both pitchers, with another strikeout for each pitcher. Blanchard kept the perfect game intact in the fourth by sitting the Owls down in order once again.

However, Taylor Keegan would lead off the bottom of the fourth with a single to give the Golden Bears their first hit. However, the Golden Bears could not bring Keegan home. Kalle Halvorsen got the Owls their first hit with a two-out double in the top of the fifth. However, the Owls could not bring Halvorsen home. Marley Rodriguez answered with a double for the Golden Bears but would not make it home. The sixth inning saw the Owls fail to get on base. The Golden Bears would but would not get the runner home. The seventh saw the Owls go down one, two, three, and the Golden Bears got a runner on base but could not score. The game went to extra innings. The Owls tried to score in the eighth, but the runner was out at home plate. Then, in the bottom of the eighth, with Marley Rodriguez on third, Taylor Keegan hit a one-out single into right field to bring Rodriguez home and win the game for the Golden Bears, 1-0.

Inside the Diamond:

  • Taylor Keegan led the Golden Bears at the plate by going 2-for-4 with the walk-off RBI single.
  • Marley Rodriguez had the lone extra-base hit for the Golden Bears with a double.
  • Kalle Halvorsen led the Owls at the plate with the only hit for the Owls. It was a double. 
  • Lilah Demmy pitched 7.1 innings for the Owls, letting up one run, four hits, and striking out four WNE batters.
  • Ava Blanchard pitched all eight innings for the Golden Bears, letting up only one hit, no earned runs, and struck out five batters to earn the win.
  • The Golden Bears beat the Owls 1-0 in eight innings.

Game 2: Western New England 7, Keene State 6

Game two saw the bats wake up. Megan Strzegowski and Shelby Parr got the starts in the pitching circle for the Owls and Golden Bears, respectively. Parr let up a hit but no runs to the Owls in the top of the first. In the bottom of the first, the Golden Bears would get the runs started quickly. With runners on second and third, with one out, Lizzie Weston grounded out. However, Taylor Keegan scored to give Weston an RBI. Then, Alex Ferriouolo reached first on an error, and another runner scored to give the Golden Bears a 2-0 lead. With two on and two out, Kim Baumann cleared the bases with a double to left field. That made the score 4-0. Marley Rodriguez then hit a single and brought Baumann home. Right after Rodriguez, Blades reached on an error by the Owls, and Rodriguez ran home to give the Golden Bears a 6-0 lead.

The second inning saw another Owl reach base but would not make it home. Strzegowski sat the Golden Bears down one, two, three in the bottom of the inning. With two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the third inning, Allison Adams smacked a grand slam over the center field fence, and all of a sudden, the score was 6-4, Golden Bears. Emilia Garcia entered the game for Parr after the grand slam. The Golden Bears could not answer in the bottom of the third. Garcia took care of the Owls in the top of the fourth inning, one, two, three. Kaleigh Blades doubled in the bottom of the fourth but would not make it home to extend the WNE lead. The top of the fifth saw Abbie Monkevicz single into right field and score Liv Whittier and Elyse Picard. The game was now tied. Ava Blanchard entered the game to get the Golden Bears their final out of the top of the fifth. The game was not tied for long. Kailey Carrano led off the bottom of the fifth for the Golden Bears and sent the first pitch over the right field fence to give the Golden Bears a 7-6 lead. Strzegowski was able to get one more out, but then Lilah Demmy entered the game at pitcher for the Owls. Blanchard handled the Owls in the top of the sixth. Even though the Golden Bears saw Taylor Keegan make it to third, they could not get Keegan home, and the score stayed 7-6. The Owls were down to their last three outs. Blanchard saw three batters and got three batters out to earn the win for the Golden Bears, 7-6. 

Inside the Diamond:

  • The Golden Bears saw six batters get a hit. Three batters had extra-base hits.
  • Kim Baumann and Kaleigh Blades each had a double.
  • Kailey Carrano hit a solo home run, which proved to be the game-winning hit.
  • Elyse Picard led the Owls at the plate by going 3-for-4.
  • Allison Adams went 2-for-2 and had the only extra-base hit for the Owls. Adams hit a grand slam to score four runs.
  • Megan Strzegowski pitched 4.1 innings for the Owls, giving up seven runs and striking out one batter.
  • Lilah Demmy pitched 1.2 innings for the Owls, letting up no runs and striking out one batter.
  • Shelby Parr pitched 2.2 innings, letting up four runs and striking out one batter. Emilia Garcia pitched two innings, letting up two runs. 
  • Ava Blanchard earned the win for the Golden Bears by pitching 2.1 innings, letting up no runs, and striking out one batter.
  • The Golden Bears won 7-6.

Up Next on the Schedule:

  • The Golden Bears will stay at home for their next doubleheader as they welcome Fitchburg State University to Golden Bear Softball Park on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, starting at 3:00 PM.
  • The Owls will travel to UMB Softball field in Boston, Massachusetts, for a doubleheader against UMass-Boston on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, starting at 3:00 PM.
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