WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (March 13, 2025) – Returning to the diamond after a day off on Wednesday, the Western New England softball team split a double header on their fifth of six playing days in Florida, defeating Carroll University 5-1 in the opening morning game while Gettysburg College would defeat the Golden Bears in game two, 8-5 on a seventh inning rally. 

Records:

• Western New England: 5-5
• Carroll University: 6-3
• Gettysburg College: 11-2

How it Happened:

The Golden Bears began the top of the first with a single as Angelees Carrasquillo would drop down a bunt to get to first. Carrasquillo would steal second, followed by a single to center field by Alex Ferriouolo, putting runners on first and third with one out but the Pioneers of Carroll University would get a strikeout and a ground ball to end the inning as WNE would not pick up a run. Carroll started out the same way as WNE did in their bottom half of the first inning, picking up a bunt single off WNE starting pitcher Ava Blanchard. Blanchard would work around the leadoff hit, getting the Pioneers to ground out twice and fly out to center field, coming up with no runs in the opening inning. Western New England would pick up the first run in the game in the top of the second after Gracie Hemstock would be hit by a pitch and would advance on a stolen base and a fly ball. Shea McDaniel would produce a single to score Hemstock, giving WNE a 1-0 lead. 

Ava Blanchard picked up an easy 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the second, making a stabbing catch on the first batter of the inning to keep the Pioneers off the base paths. The Golden Bears would pick up two more runs in the top of the third inning to take a 3-0 lead. Angelees Carrasquillo opened with a single to center field, followed by a bunt hit by Marley Rodriguez. The two Golden Bears would pull off a double steal, putting runners on second and third with no outs. Nicolina Salanto would reach on an error, scoring one, while Evelyn Picone would deliver an RBI single down the left field line, giving the Golden Bears the three run lead. Carroll answered with one run in the bottom of the third as Kiana Johnson came up with an RBI single as the game moved to 3-1 in favor of the Golden Bears after three innings of play. 

Blanchard would continue to motor down the Carroll lineup, giving up just one hit in the bottom of the fourth inning while the Golden Bears would come up with two more runs on two hits in the top of the fifth as Salanto and Picone produced RBIs each to lead the Golden Bears to a 5-1 lead.  Western New England would threaten for more in the top of the sixth inning after Kelsey Bouchard and Angelees Carrasquillo would walk while Marley Rodriguez would be hit by a pitch but a deep fly out would end the threat for Western New England. Ava Blanchard would cruise through the sixth and into the seventh, giving up just one hit to the Pioneers in the seventh inning but that would be all Carroll would get as Blanchard and the Golden Bears would come around with a 5-1 win. 

Inside the Lines:

• Ava Blanchard shined for Western New England in the circle, going seven innings, giving up just five hits and one earned run overall. Blanchard got 12 outs on a fly out and nine ground ball outs. 
• Nicolina Salanto went 2/4 at the plate, picking up two RBIs and a run scored to lead the offense. 
• Evelyn Picone had a hit and two RBIs for Western New England on the morning. 
• Shea McDaniel also picked up an RBI on a hit for the Golden Bears. 

How it Happened (vs. Gettysburg College):

Western New England started in a 1-0 hole after the top of the first as Gettysburg picked up an infield single that scored their first batter of the game, who also reached on an infield single, giving the Bullets a 1-0 lead. Western New England would quickly bounce back, however, after Anglees Carrasquillo led off with an error committed by the Gettysburg first baseman while Nicolina Salanto would come up with an RBI single to left field, tying the game at one after one. Gettysburg picked up a 3-1 lead after the top of the second inning, picking up two RBI singles to the outfield. Western New England would not be out of it, quickly coming back with a two-run single to tie the game after two innings. Kim Baumann and Shea McDaniel would reach, Baumann on a single and McDaniel on an error from Gettysburg while Marley Rodriguez would come up with a two RBI single to center field, tying the game at three after two innings. 

Riley Kane would make the start in the circle for Western New England and would give up two hits in the top of the third but came up with a strikeout looking and a groundout to third base to get out of the inning unscathed. Baumann would have WNE's lone hit in the bottom of the third inning, but the Golden Bears would not be able to come up with anything additional as the score remained tied after three innings. The Bullets would take the lead 5-3 after coming up with two hits and two runs in the top of the fourth inning, taking their two-run lead back. The Golden Bears still had fight left in them, responding for one run in the bottom of the fourth as Alex Ferriouolo came up with an RBI single to right field, scoring Marley Rodriguez, who doubled on the previous at bat. Western New England would keep up their threat as the bases would fill following singles from both Nicolina Salanto and Evelyn Picone with one out. Gracie Hemstock's ground ball would lock up the Gettysburg first baseman and would allow a run to score for the Golden Bears, tying the game at five after four innings of play. 

Gettysburg would go quietly in the top of the fifth as the score would remain tied at five while Western New England would pick up just a hit in the bottom of the fifth with Kelsey Bouchard picking up a single, but the Golden Bears would not be able to score their right fielder. In the top of the sixth, Gettysburg came away with
two base runners on two errors for the Golden Bears, but WNE would hold off the Bullets as Riley Kane would come up with a fly ball out to end the inning. WNE would come up with a chance to take the lead in the bottom of the sixth after Kim Baumann would single to center field, but Aubrey Gaudiosi, who pinch ran for Nicolina Salanto (BB) would be thrown out at the plate trying to score, keeping the score tied at five heading into the final inning of play. In the seventh, Gettysburg would come up with three runs, taking advantage of two errors from Western New England while coming up with three singles to score runs to take an 8-5 lead. The bottom of the ninth would not favor WNE as the Golden Bears would go quietly, falling by a final score of 8-5. 

Inside the Lines:

• Kim Baumann led Western New England with three hits on four plate appearances overall. 
• Marley Rodriguez picked up two hits in three at bats, coming away with two RBIs and a run in the game. 
• Nicolina Salanto and Evelyn Picone both had two hits each. 
• Riley Kane went the full seven innings for WNE, giving up 12 hits and eight runs, six earned, while walking two and striking out three. 
• This was the first all-time meeting between the two teams. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The Golden Bears will wrap up their Florida schedule with two final games on Friday, March 14, beginning at 2:00 PM against Mount Saint Mary College and ending the trip against Ithaca College at 4:15 PM.