KISSIMMEE, FL (March 9, 2025) – The WNE Softball program was back on the field for their second day of games in Florida. Both games saw great pitching performances from the Golden Bear pitchers. Game one saw Riley Kane throw a one-hitter and let up one run. WNE defeated UMass-Dartmouth 7-1. Ava Blanchard pitched in game two and only let up two runs in a complete-game victory as the Golden Bears defeated Otterbein 3-2.

Game 1: Western New England 7, UMass-Dartmouth 1

The Corsairs started the game with the first run. With a runner on third and one out, Larissa Piessens would ground out to shortstop but brought home a run, and UMass-Dartmouth was ahead 1-0. The Golden Bears would not shy away from the competition. The bottom of the first saw the Golden Bears wipe away the Corsairs' lead. It started with a one-out sacrifice fly from Alex Ferriouolo. That brought home the game-tying run. WNE kept the 2-out rallies coming with a 2-out rally that saw three score. Nicolina Solanto would walk, bringing a run home before Kim Baumann slapped a single to center field and drove two runs home. The Golden Bears led 4-1 after the first. Neither team would score again until the fourth inning. Kane got the first out of the second before an error and struck out the last two batters. Then, Edy Crawford walked the first WNE batter of the second before getting three consecutive outs. Kane kept the Corsairs scoreless in the third with another strikeout, and Angelees Carrasquillo caught the Corsairs stealing second. Crawford was equal to the task, and after the first WNE batter got on base, Crawford got the next three batters out. Kane would keep the Golden Bear momentum rolling with three more consecutive outs. With runners on second and third and one out for the Golden Bears in the bottom of the fourth, Alex Ferriouolo slapped a hit up the middle of the infield, and both runners ran home. WNE now led 6-1. The fifth inning saw Riley Kane have another inning where a UMass-Dartmouth batter did not get on base. Riley Giard entered as the Corsairs' pitcher and reciprocated the three outs. Riley Kane ended the day in the sixth inning with a strikeout, which was Kane's tenth consecutive out of the game. The bottom of the inning saw WNE gain a seventh run via an Alex Ferriouolo walk, giving WNE a 7-1 lead. It also saw Aubrey Guadiosi get a first career at-bat as a Golden Bear. Guadiosi took advantage of the opportunity and hit a single down the left-field line. Briana Cardona would enter the game at pitcher for the Golden Bears for Cardona's first collegiate inning in the top of the seventh. Cardona walked the first batter but battled back and got the next three batters out. WNE won the game 7-1.

Around the Diamond:

• Riley Kane led the Golden Bears to victory with a six-inning, one-hit, one-run, four-strike-out performance.
• Brianna Cardona pitched in Cardona's first career WNE game and let up no hits or runs.
• Four Golden Bears had a hit in game one.
• Alex Ferriouolo had one of the hits and drove in four RBIs during game one while also drawing a walk.
• Kim Baumann went 1-for-2 with two RBIs and a walk.
• Angelees Carrasquillo drew two walks in three at-bats.
• Aubrey Guadiosi had a first career Golden Bear hit, a single.
• The Corsairs had one hit, and it was from Kinu Takasugi. It was a single.
• The Corsairs' pitchers let up four hits, seven runs, and had a strikeout.
• WNE won 7-1 versus UMass-Dartmouth.

Game 2: Western New England 3, Otterbein 2

Game two saw the Golden Bears and Cardinals battle to the final out. Angelees Carrasquillo got the contest started with a single. After two walks and two outs, the Golden Bears had bases loaded, but Otterbein's pitcher, Addison Yoder, got the final WNE batter to fly out to end the inning. Ava Blanchard would see four batters in the bottom of the first and get three out to keep the score tied 0-0. Both pitchers sat the opposing batters down in order, one, two, three, in the second inning. Yoder struck out WNE's final two batters. The top of the third saw WNE grab the lead. After the first two batters hit into outs for the Golden Bears, they rallied once again. Marley Rodriguez walked, Alex Ferriouolo doubled, and then Rodriguez scored on a passed ball. WNE led 1-0 going into the bottom of the third. Blanchard would strike out the first batter in the bottom of the third. Otterbein had a couple of hits, but Blanchard would get out of the inning without letting up a run. Yoder would answer with another strikeout and would get out of a two runners on base, two outs situation. Two runners got on base for the Cardinals, but Blanchard kept the great performance going and struck out the final batter of the fourth inning. WNE still led 1-0. The pitching dual continued as Yoder saw four batters and got three out, earning another strikeout. Blanchard got the Cardinals out one, two, three in the bottom of the fifth. The Golden Bears saw another two-out rally grab more runs. With two outs and one runner on, WNE would see the next batter get to first by getting hit by a pitch.

Then, Carrasquillo singled to right field, bringing one run in. Then, Rodriguez got to first base via an error. A runner would score before Otterbein got the third and final out, and WNE led 3-0. In the bottom of the sixth, Otterbein had runners on first and third with one out. Ciana D'Antoni would hit a sacrifice fly to left field and score one run. Then, Rachel Miller hit a single down the left field line, and Otterbein only trailed 3-2. Blanchard struck out the final batter to keep the Golden Bears ahead by one. Kiley King entered the game as the Otterbein pitcher and would only let up one hit, but no runs, and the game came down to the bottom of the seventh. Ava Blanchard entered the pitching circle one last time during the game for the Golden Bears. Blanchard got the first batter to pop up, walked the second batter, saw the third batter hit a single, and had runners on second and third, and one out. Blanchard would settle down and get the final two batters to pop out, and the Golden Bears won the game 3-2.

Around the Diamond:

• Ava Blanchard led the Golden Bears to a 3-2 win with a two-run, complete-game performance.
• The Golden Bears had seven hits, with two batters having multiple hits.
• Angelees Carrasquillo went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
• Alex Ferriouolo went 2-for-3 with a walk and a double.
• Nicolina Solanto added to the offense by going 1-for-2 with two walks.
• Kennedi Endsley led the Cardinals by going 2-for-4 with a stolen base.
• The Otterbein pitchers gave up seven hits and three runs and had three strikeouts.
• WNE defeated Otterbein 3-2.

Up Next:

The team will return to the Fortune Road Athletics Complex on Monday, March 10, 2025, at 4:00 PM and 6:30 PM for their games versus Hiram College and Carlow University, respectively.