Blue Softball Drops a Pair to Trinity (Conn.) and Middlebury from Clermont

CLERMONT, Fla. – Wellesley softball dropped a pair of games to Trinity (Conn.) and Middlebury on Saturday from the Legends Way Ballparks in Clermont.

Game 1 | Wellesley 0, Trinity (Conn.) 8 | Final (Six Innings)

Sophomore Tiffany Stowers (Burke, Va.) tossed six shutout innings for the Bantams to earn the win. Senior catcher Alex Chambers (East Lyme, Conn.) drove in three runs and went 2-for-4 and first year Erin Steed (Orland Park, Ill.) finished with a pair of RBI's.

Trinity got on the board early after Chambers drove in two runs with a triple to right center. Gianna Tito (East Hanover, N.J.) followed up with an RBI single up the middle and Steed sent a shot to right field to give Trinity a 5-0 lead after one. The Blue had a chance to respond in the top half of the second, but couldn't bring a run home and left two on base. The Bantams added another in the bottom of the second after Maura Keary (Fairfield, Conn.) brought home a run with a single to left.

The Blue made a pair of costly errors in the bottom of the third, allowing Stowers to come around to score after Steed reached. Wellesley was able to get the first two runners on base the following inning but left them stranded and trailed 6-0 after four innings of play. Chambers would put the game away in the bottom of the sixth with a single through the right side and bringing home two runs.

Blue junior Marisa Sgambati (Scottsdale, Ariz.) came in relief and dealt 4.2 innings and allowed just one earned run. Sophomore Elli DeCleene (North Reading, Mass.) finished 2-for-3 with a pair of singles for the Blue.

Game 1 | Wellesley 5, Middlebury 7 | Final

Middlebury senior Noelle Ruschil (Katonah, N.Y.) went 2-for-4 with two RBIs in the rematch. Junior Jewel Ashbrook (Fremont, Neb.) picked up the win after coming into relief and dealing 4.1 innings and not allowing an earned run. 

Wellesley senior Hayley Moniz (Westfield, Mass.) finished a solid 2-for-4 at the plate and drove in two runs. First year Lauren Young (Fresno, Calif.) made her first career start going five innings and allowing five earned and striking out three batters.

The Blue was able to strike first after Moniz laced a double to right field and brought home Ingrid Hsu (San Ramon, Calif.). After a scoreless first inning, the Panthers brought home two runs in the second after a RBI double by Schroeder, followed by a throwing error and Middlebury led 2-1. Wellesley responded to tie the game in the bottom of the third after Young drove home Hsu with a single through the left side.

Middlebury picked up the momentum on the offensive end by scoring one in the next three innings. Junior Jordyn Johnson (Hoover, Ala.) led off the sixth inning with a single up the middle as the ball got by the centerfielder. Johnson came all the way around to score on the error and the Panthers led 7-2 heading into the final inning. The Blue had one more opportunity in the bottom of the seventh and quickly made some noise. With runners on second and third and no outs, senior Marisa Hensch (Carlsbad, Calif.) reached on a throwing error by the third baseman and two runs came around to score to cut the lead to 7-4. Moniz then followed with a double to score Hensch, but was thrown out a third trying to extend it into a triple. The next two Blue batters went down and Middlebury hung on to win 7-5.  

The Blue are back in action tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM against Colby and at 12:15 versus Hope from the Hancock Park Fields.