Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 CAPE CORAL, Fla. – The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth softball team defeated St. Joseph (Conn.), 6-2, and fell to Wis.-Platteville by a score of 8-5 on Wednesday at the Cape Coral Sports Complex.
Game #1 UMass Dartmouth 6 St. Joseph 2
UMass Dartmouth took control of the contest in the third inning with a two-out, four-run offensive outburst, driven by a three-run homer by junior Rachel Carey (Holbrook, Mass.).
After a fielding error by St. Joseph allowed freshman Dylan Parsons (Methuen, Mass.) to cross home plate, Carey blasted her first collegiate homer over the left field fence to increase the score to 5-1. Sophomore Marissa Spinuzzi (Fair Lawn, N.J.) and freshman Mary Pieroni (Arlington, Mass.) scored on the round tripper.
The Blue Jays cut the deficit down to three in the sixth, when Mary Sciglimpaglia lined a triple to left center to push across teammate Patti Sciglimpaglia. Three runs would be as close as St Joseph would come as the Corsairs tacked on a run in the bottom half of the inning. Sophomore Abby Tremblay (New Bedford, Mass.), who went 2-for-3 with an RBI, touched home on a passed ball to give UMass Dartmouth a four run lead.
Junior Shannon Orton (Swansea, Mass.) allowed one earned run and struck out six batters in six innings of work to earn her second win of the season. For the Blue Jays, Colleen Ecsedy and Danielle Circosta split the game in the circle. Ecsedy surrendered one earned run on four hits, while Circosta held the Corsairs to three hits in relief.
Game #2 Wis.-Platteville 8 UMass Dartmouth 5
The first five batters in the UMass Dartmouth lineup fueled a nine hit performance, however the Pioneer's generated seven runs in the first two innings to sink the Corsairs.
Spinuzzi led UMass Dartmouth with a 3-for-4 outing, including two runs-batted-in and a stolen base. Orton batted .500 in four appearances in the box and knocked in a pair of baserunners, while freshman Emily Colton (Kingston, Mass.), classmate Kristen Raposa (New Bedford, Mass.), Parsons, and Pieroni each registered a base hit.
MJ Patten and Haley Salazar powered the Pioneer's offense as the duo combined for four hits, two runs and two stolen bases. Patten went 2-for-3 with a pair of runs, while Salazar accumulated a pair of hits and two RBI's.
Pieroni put the Corsairs on the scoreboard in the top half of the first, when she ripped an RBI single into left field. Wis.-Platteville answered in the bottom half with two runs of its own. In the following innning, the Pioneers pieced together four hits for five runs to accumulate a 7-1 lead.
Trailing by five runs in the seventh inning, Spinuzzi and Orton produced consecutive RBI singles to bring UMass Dartmouth within three, 8-5. With two outs and runners on first and third, winning pitcher Keri Remi produced a game-ending pop fly to end the Corsair's comeback efforts.
Remi went the distance, allowing two earned runs on nine hits, while striking out three for Wis.-Platteville. Smith fanned four batters and surrendered six hits and a pair of walks in four innings of work for UMass Dartmouth. In relief, Pieroni hurled two innings of one-run softball for the Corsairs.
UMass Dartmouth (3-3) concludes its spring trip on Thursday, Mar. 16 when the Corsairs take the field against Manchester at 9 am, followed by Wis.-Superior at 11 am.
Photo courtesy of Tony Spinuzzi
