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Box Score 2 DANBURY, Conn. – With a 5-3 victory in game one on Saturday, UMass Dartmouth Softball tied the program wins record, rising to 26-13 overall and securing the No. 2 seed for next week's Little East Conference Tournament in a split at Western Connecticut.
The Corsairs tie the win total set by then head coach Marilyn Ritz's team in 1995, when UMass Dartmouth completed the season at 26-10. Next Tuesday at 4:30 p.m., UMass Dartmouth will play host to No. 5 UMass Boston in the opening round of the double-elimination league tournament before advancing to Keene State for the weekend games Friday through Sunday.
Corsairs 5, Western Connecticut 3
Three runs in the final two innings, including a solo shot by junior Marissa Spinuzzi (Fair Lawn, N.J.), lifted UMass Dartmouth past a 3-2 deficit, as the Corsairs earned their highest LEC seeding in program history in the first game.
Spinuzzi led the roster at the plate on the contest, going 2-for-4 and crossing home twice. Sophomore Hannah Smith (Attleboro, Mass.) rose to 12-7 in the circle on the year, getting the win in five innings with five strikeouts while allowing seven hits. Senior Shannon Orton (Swansea, Mass.) was credited with her first save on the season after entering to pitch in the bottom of the sixth, fanning three.
The pitching from both sides was on point through the first three innings, with both Smith and Western Connecticut's Alle Sabith (Meriden, Conn.) combining to allow just two hits until the fourth. UMass Dartmouth found the bats to lead off that frame, when freshman Jill Miller (Freetown, Mass.) started the knocks with a double. The next batter, Spinuzzi, laced a single up the middle to score Miller. Orton then plated Spinuzzi on the second Corsair double on the game, giving the visitors a 2-0 lead.
In the fifth, the Colonials would gain control. Three straight bunts to lead off the at-bat loaded the bases for freshman Hannah Dunlap (Batavia, N.Y.), who drove in a run on a sacrifice bunt. Jenna Gaudioso (East Haven, Conn.) then put down her squad's fifth-straight bunt to score another run, before a sacrifice fly from Michaela Roche (Bristol, Conn.) scored the third and final Colonial run.
UMass Dartmouth was unfazed for the remainder of the game, responding in kind. WCSU made a pitching switch to senior Emily Cintorino (Bristol, Conn.) to start the sixth, but the change wouldn't last, as Spinuzzi blasted her second home run of the season as the first batter. After a walk, the Colonials immediately went back to Sabith. The first batter she faced, freshman Briana Flaherty (Franklin, Mass.) connected for a double to left center, scoring Rachelle Bator (Farmington, Maine).
Orton emerged from the sixth unscathed, and Cintorino came back in to pitch for the seventh. Pinch runner Adi Alicea-Cordero (Dorchester, Mass.) advanced to second and third on an error, and Miller came through, adding an insurance run on a sacrifice fly. Two Orton K's in the seventh put the game to an end.
Western Connecticut 2, Corsairs 0
Cintorino found a rhythm in game two, shutting out the Corsairs despite allowing five hits to earn the split. Orton and sophomore Rebecca Field (Brentwood, N.H.) were both able to put down two hits on the game, but the WCSU defense held.
The Colonials picked up a run in the third inning after allowing just one Corsair hit until that point. After UMass Dartmouth secured an out at home plate, an error scored Candace Lawrence (West Haven, Conn.) for a 1-0 WCSU lead.
UMass Dartmouth threatened in the fifth, when Orton led off with a single and Flaherty reached on an error. Senior Rachel Carey (Holbrook, Mass.) loaded the bases two batters later, but Cintorino got the final two outs by way of strikeout and groundout and keep the advantage.
In the sixth, Colonial senior Maegan Rodriguez (East Haven, Conn.) launched a lead-off home run, adding an insurance run before UMass Dartmouth got out of the inning. Field put down a single in the seventh, but WCSU was able to complete the shutout.
Orton took the loss in the circle for the Corsairs, slipping to 14-6 on the year with five strikeouts, permitting just three hits with one earned run. On her eight-inning day, the senior ace surpassed the 100-strikeout mark for the season as she now totals 107 for the year.
For WCSU, Cintorino went the full game, striking out four and walking just one on the shutout victory as she is now 10-10 on the year.
UMass Dartmouth and the fifth-seeded Beacons split previously on the season, losing 1-0 before taking a 3-1 win in eight innings on April 9. Western Connecticut will be the tournament's No. 4 seed, making the trek to No. 3 Southern Maine for the first round.
