PROVIDENCE, R.I. -Â 5th-year senior
Jill Richards reached 200 strikeouts in her career as the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth softball team swept Rhode Island College, 2-1 and 15-8, Tuesday afternoon at the Bazar Softball Complex.
The two wins move the Corsairs (18-6-1, 4-2 LEC) to a tie of third place in the Little East Conference standings, while the Anchorwomen (6-8, 2-4 LEC) remain in the sixth in the conference.
GAME ONE
UMass Dartmouth won a pitchers duel in game one. Richards threw a complete game and limited RIC to one earned on eight hits with eight strikeouts and only one walk. The Anchorwomen's Abby Kidd did all she could as she allowed two earned on five hits with four K's.
Richards worked a 1-2-3 first with a pair of groundouts and struck out the final batter of the inning for number 200. The game remained scoreless until the third when Rhode Island College smacked a one-out triple and bunted home the runner to make it 1-0.
Richards evened the score herself in the top of the fourth with her third home run of the season. She followed that up by striking out the side in order, and kept it a 1-1 game until the seventh.
Freshman Ella Beaulie singled to lead off the inning and classmate
Kinu Takasugi pinch ran. Junior
Victoria Rossetti and 5th-year senior
Leah Major each sacrifice bunted Takasugi to third and sophomore
Dyonna Rodas eventually hit a sacrifice fly to give the Corsairs the lead for good.
RIC had the tying run on third in the bottom of the seventh, but Richards fanned her eighth batter of the game to secure the win.
GAME TWO
The second game of the day was a high-scoring slugfest where big fourth and fifth innings surged the Corsairs to a 15-8 victory.
Richards, Rodas and senior
Averi Soares were each 3-for-5 in the game. Soares and Rodas both drove in two runs, while Richards had one RBI. Freshman
Larissa Piessens finished with a two-RBI single. Freshman
Ella Beaulieu earned her first win of the season in the circle by not allowing a run in the final four innings.
UMass Dartmouth jumped ahead to a 4-0 lead in the first. Rodas led off with a double, stole third, and scored on a wild pitch. Major walked, stole second, took third a wild pitch and senior
Lindsay Chubbuck singled her home. After Richards reached on a fielder's choice, Piessens knocked in two runs with a base hit to make it 4-0. A two-run home run cut the Corsair lead in half in the bottom half of the inning.
Two more runs scored for UMass Dartmouth in the second on a sacrifice fly by Beaulieu that brought home Rodas and an error to allow Takasugi to cross the plate, making it 6-2 Corsairs. Rossetti then got the third started with a triple and Soares sent her home with a double down the left field line to bring the lead to 7-2.
Rhode Island College scored six runs in the fourth to go ahead, 8-7. The Anchorwomen loaded the bases and four base hits, a walk, and a sacrifice fly gave the home team the lead.
Four runs each in the fifth and sixth innings sealed the deal for the Corsairs. In the fifth it was an RBI single off the bat of Rosetti, who later scored on a wild pitch, and a two-RBI double by Rodas. Richards drove freshman
Sadie Keefe home in the sixth, while Soares also knocked home a run, and Major did the same with Rosetti scoring as well to bring the game to its final score.
UP NEXT
UMass Dartmouth travels to Coast Guard for a non-conference doubleheader at 3 and 5 p.m.
