Coast Guard Sweeps Wellesley In NEWMAC Softball Doubleheader

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Wellesley College softball dropped both ends of a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) doubleheader to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy on Saturday afternoon at the Wellesley Fields Complex. The Bears took a 4-1 victory in game one and a 13-6 win in game two to improve to 18-8 overall and 9-5 in conference. Wellesley is now 6-17 (3-9 NEWMAC) on the year.

Coast Guard 4, Wellesley 1

Wellesley let an early 1-0 lead slip away in a tightly contested game one. Coast Guard found the difference in the top of the fifth inning, scoring four runs on one hit and one error to earn the 4-1 victory. 

Senior Amanda Manning (Chico, Calif.) cracked the first of her two doubles in the game to lead-off the bottom of the first before advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt from Kalei Oliver (Vista, Calif.). After sophomore Kendall Smith (Turlock, Calif.) was hit by a pitch, first year Gen Brittingham (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) grounded out to first, allowing Manning to score.

Manning finished the game 2-for-4 with a run scored. Oliver was the only other Wellesley player to record two hits in the game, finishing 2-for-3 with a pair of singles. Senior Julia Warner (Kenmore, Wash.) took the loss (4-7) in the circle, pitching 4.1 innings without giving-up an earned run and recording a pair of strikeouts. First year Thyme Morton (Tucson, Ariz.) and senior Madeline Bianchi (Lakeville, Minn.) combined for the remaining 2.2 innings, allowing a combined three hits. 

Warner walked two of the first thee batters in the fifth before handing the ball over to Morton. Morton got the next batter, Emma Hvozdovich (Palm Harbor, Fla.), to fly out to right. However, with two outs and runners on the corners, the Blue dropped a fly ball to right that allowed the tying run to score in the form of Carly Hattman (Egg Harbor, N.J.). The next batter, Audry Bartz (Arlington, Va.), walked to load the bases, before senior Emily Hogan (Pittsburgh, Pa.) made the score 4-1 with a three-run double to the right centerfield gap. 

Bianchi came on to get the final out in the top of the fifth and pitched scoreless frames in the sixth and seventh inning, but Wellesley was unable to rally. The Blue left Manning stranded on second in the bottom of the fifth, runners on the corners in the sixth, and runners on first and second in the home half of the seventh to end the game. Coast Guard starter Julia Ferris (Falls Chruch, Va.) improved to 9-6 overall with the compete game, one-run effort.

Coast Guard 13, Wellesley 6  

The Bears powered past the Blue in game two, recording 21 hits and scoring 13 runs to earn the sweep with a 13-6 victory.

Hvozdovich recorded six RBIs in the contest, hitting two home runs, including a grand slam in the top of the second inning, to run her team-leading total to 35 on the season. Hvozdovich finished the game 4-for-4, while scoring three runs and adding a double in the top of the first inning. Hogan was 4-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI to help power a Coast Guard attack that saw all nine players in the order collect at least one hit. 

Brittingham, classmate Julianne Griffin (Blue Bell, Pa.), and sophomore Autumn Brown (Marshfield, Mass.) all went yard for the Blue, with each driving in a pair of the runs in the game. Both Brittingham and Brown finished the game 2-for-4 with two runs scored, while Griffin was 2-for-4 with one run scored. Senior Zein Aburush (Alexandria, Va.) was 1-for-3 with a double in the fourth inning. 

At the time, Griffin's first career home run, a two-run effort, cut the Wellesley deficit to 6-2 in the bottom of the second inning. The Bears would respond by scoring four runs over the next three innings to jump ahead 10-2, as Hvozdovich homered in the fourth and brought home a run with a sacrifice in the fifth and junior Malia Hindle (Seaville, N.J.) and Hogan each picked-up RBI singles. 

A three-run bottom of the fifth, powered by Brown's two-run blast and an RBI double from Brittingham, cut the deficit to 10-5. The Bears would only add on in the next two innings, capping their scoring when Bartz singled to score Hvozdovuch with two on in the top of the seventh. 

First year Sydney Arendt (Manistee, Mich.) pitched the game's first 4.1 innings, working around eight hits and striking out two to improve to 9-4 on the year. Ferris returned for 2.2 innings of one-relief to help the Bears finish the game. Blue junior Sydney Hopper (Newcastle, Wash) was charged with the loss (2-4) in 1.2 innings of work. 

Wellesley will travel to Springfield for a rescheduled doubleheader on Tuesday, April 17 at 3:00 PM. Coast Guard will host local rival Mitchell in their next outing on Wednesday, April 18 at 3:00 PM.