Blue Softball Swept at Springfield in NEWMAC Regular Season Finale

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Wellesley College softball dropped both ends of a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) doubleheader to host Springfield College on Sunday afternoon at Potter Field. The Pride took game one with a 5-2 final and game two by a 5-4 margin behind back-to-back complete game efforts from junior starting pitcher Talia Loda (East Haven, Conn.). 

The Blue finish the regular season with a 17-10 overall record and an 11-7 mark in NEWMAC play. Springfield improves to 27-7 overall and 12-5 in conference. Both teams will await seeding for the upcoming NEWMAC Tournament following the conclusion of conference play this evening.

Game One: Springfield 5, Wellesley 2

Behind three RBIs from junior Kayla Padroff (Southington, Conn.), the Pride picked up 5-2 win over Wellesley in game one.

Loda gave up just four hits while striking out seven in game one, as Springfield picked up one run per inning from the second innning on. First year Allie Wheeler (Agawam, Mass.) picked up the other two Springfield RBIs, despite finishing the game hitless. Wheeler hit sacrifice flys in both the third and fifth innings. 

Wellesley senior Ashtyn Coleman (Scottsdale, Ariz.) had both of the Blue RBIs, going 2-for-3 with two doubles in the contest. Junior Amanda Manning scored both runs, finishing the game 2-for-3 with a walk. Starter Julia Warner (Kenmore, Wash.) was tagged for five runs on nine hits, and struckout five in the setback.

Wellelsey struck first in the top of the first inning when Ashtyn Coleman doubled to center field, to score Manning. The Pride pulled even in the bottom of the second when Alexyss Conley (Bloomingburg, N.Y.) reached on a single, stole second and was moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from Sam Cox (Longmeadow, Mass.). Conley then scored on a bunt from Padroff to tie the game at 1-1. 

Ashtyn Coleman and Manning combined to score the second Wellesley run in the top of third. Manning singled and was moved to second by Kendra Coleman (Scottsdale, Ariz.), before Ashtyn Coleman delivered a double to score Manning from second for the second time. However, Springfield tied the contest again in the home half of the inning when Carianna Gasdia (Wakefield, Mass.) tripled to lead off the inning and scored on a sacrifice fly from Wheeler.

The Pride went on to take the lead in the bottom of the fourth, when Conley scored on a sacrifice fly from Padroff after reaching base with a leadoff double and advancing to third on a bunt. Springfield added runs in the bottom of the fifth, on a Wheeler sac fly, and the bottom of the sixth, on an RBI single from Padroff, to close out the 5-2 victory in the opener.

Game Two: Springfield 5, Wellesley 4

Trailing 5-2 entering the seventh inning, Wellesley got two runs back but came up just short in their last at-bat, as Loda improved to 16-2 on the season thanks to a 5-4 Springfield victory. 

For the third time on the day, Ashtyn Coleman and Manning combined to score a Wellesley run. Manning opened the game with a double to left center and moved to third thanks to a sacrifice bunt from Kendra Coleman. Ashtyn Coleman then lifted a sacrifice fly to center that brought Manning home from third to make the score 1-0. Manning had two doubles and scored three runs in game two. Ashtyn Coleman was 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI, and a run scored. 

The Blue lead was short lived, as the Pride scored five in the home half of the first, dropping in six hits and taking advantage of one Wellesley error in the inning. Just as she did in game one, Padroff victimized the Blue, this time delivering a two-RBI double with two outs to cap the five-run first inning rally and chase Wellesley start Sydney Hopper (Newcastle, Wash.) from the game. Wheeler, Conley,, and first year Jen Slane (Tolland, Conn.) all picked up RBI hits in the inning. The damage might have been more if the Blue had not cut down two runners at the plate, thanks to assists from Manning and senior Anna Pisac (Snohomish, Wash.). 

The Pride had just enough of an advantage to hold on for the remainder of the contest. Wellesley got one run back in the top of the third when Kendra Coleman singed up the middle to score Manning after Manning had reached with a double earlier in the inning. The Blue would leave two-on in the inning, managing only one run on three hits.  

Trailing 5-2 heading into the top of the seventh, Wellesley was able to string together three hits to get a pair of runs after managing to get just two over the previous three frames. Manning reached base on a hit-by-pitch with one out, Kendra Coleman flew out to center for the second out, but Ashtyn Coleman followed with a double to put runners on second and third. Pisac then singled to left, scoring Manning, before first year Kendall Smith (Turlock, Calif.) single to score Ashtyn Coleman. However, with Pisac and Smith both aboard, Loda got first year Autumn Brown (Marshfield, Mass.) to ground out to second to end the game. 

Both Wellesley and Springfield will return to action on Friday, April 28, in the 2017 NEWMAC Championship Tournament. Game times and sites will be posted as soon as they are available on WellesleyBlue.com.