Blue Softball Splits with Salve Regina to Close Out Regular Season

WELLESLEY, Mass. — Wellesley College softball split a pair of non-conference games with visiting Salve Regina University on Saturday afternoon at the Wellesley Outdoor Fields Complex. Salve Regina earned a 4-3 victory in the opener before the Blue bounced back to take a 9-1 final in five innings in game two.  

Wellesley finishes the regular season with an 18-13 overall record, while Salve Regina ends the regular season with a record of 20-18. 

Game One: Salve Regina 4, Wellesley 3

The visiting Seahawks posted three runs in the top of the first inning and added a run in the top of the fourth inning to hold on for a 4-3 victory in game one. 

After a pair of quick outs to open the contest, Salve Regina loaded the bases on three-straight singles from Melissa Figueirdo (East Bridgewater, Mass.), Genevieve Benoit (Swampscott, Mass.) and Kara O'Riley (Actn, Mass.), before Lindsay DelGrego (Wallingford, Conn.) delivered a three RBI double to right center to clear the bases and give the Seahawks a 3-0 lead. 

Wellesley got a pair of runs back in the bottom half of the first inning. Junior Carly Bresee (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) singled to open the frame before quickly making her way around to score when first year Amanda Manning ripped a triple into the right centefield gap for her first RBI of the afternoon. Manning would score the second Wellesley run later in the inning on an error that also allowed Kendra Coleman (Scottsdale, Ariz.) to reach first. 

The game advanced to the fourth inning before both teams added a run. In the top half of the inning, Salve Regina sophomore Skye Hart (Hope Valley, R.I.) hit her second home run of the season to give the Seahawks a 4-2 advantage. Wellesley senior Abby Casey (Mildford, Conn.) countered with an RBI double in the bottom half of the frame, driving home Anna Pisac (Snohomish, Wa.) after the sophomore had opened the inning with a single. 

Salve Regina starter Nicole Parry (Quincy, Mass.) set down the Blue in order in both the fifth and sixth innings before working around a two-out double in the bottom of the seventh to improve to 11-8 on the season. Wellesley first year Madeline Bianchi (Lakeville, Minn.) went seven innings, surrendering nine hits to drop to 11-7 on the year. 

Game Two: Wellesley 9, Salve Regina 1 (5 innings)

With the score tied 1-1, Wellesley scored seven runs in the bottom of the fourth inning before adding a run in the fifth to walk-off with a 9-1 victory in game two. 

Wellesley starter Julia Warner (Kenmore, Wa.) retired the first two Salve Regina batters of the game before a single from Benoit and a walk to O'Riley extended the inning for Lexi Soucie (North Easton, Mass.). With two-on and two-out, Soucie singled to left to score Benoit and give the Seahawks a 1-0 lead. 

One run in the top of the first inning would be all that the visitors would get off Warner, as the first year starter cruised through the last four innings of her outing. Warner improved to 7-6 on the year, going five innings and striking out three for the Blue. 

Wellesley tied the game in the bottom of the second, thanks to an RBI double from Casey, before putting the contest away with a seven run bottom of the fourth inning. Senior Emilyrose Havrilla (Caldwell, N.J.) led off the inning with a triple before scoring on a fielder's choice from Pisac. Senior Mariah Philips (Palo Alto, Calif) followed with a bunt single that allowed Pisac to get to third. Pisac then scored when Casey reached on fielder's choice before both Casey and Philips came around to score on a two-RBI double from Manning. 

The inning continued when Bresee reached first on a error that also allowed Manning to move to second. Both runners scored on the next batter, as Jaclyn Tsang (Manalapan, N.J.) hit the second double of the inning to increase Wellesley's advantage to 7-1. Wellesley would add one more run when Kendra Coleman singled to score Tsang.  

Following a 1-2-3 top of the fifth for Warner, Philips opened the bottom half of the frame with a walk. She then advanced to third on back-to-back sacrifice bunts before scoring on a walk-off RBI single from Bresee. 

Wellesley will now look forward to the 2015 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Softball Championship. The fifth-seeded Blue will open the tournament next Tuesday, April 28th at 2:30 PM at Wheaton College with a match-up against the fourth-seeded Springfield College Pride.