DARTMOUTH, Mass. – It was a pair of pitching duels in the circle today as the UMass Dartmouth softball team opened Little East Conference play with a split against Castleton University. The Corsairs (14-7) split the day, earning the 1-0 win in game two, while the Spartans (4-6) posted a 1-0 victory in nine innings of the opening contest.
In the game two victory, both teams managed to put out hits in their respective halves of play, but it wasn't till the bottom of the fifth that the Corsairs finally broke through. It kicked off as second baseman
Larissa Piessens singled to the shortstop. She quickly stole second and then third to set up a scoring opportunity.
Next up came a walk to catcher
Dyonna Rodas, who stole second to set up runners on second and third with one out on the board. Left fielder
Victoria Rossetti came up to the plate, grounding out to first, but allowing Piessens to score for the 1-0 advantage.
Shirshac continued to dominate in the circle, getting the Spartans out in the top of the seventh despite a runner on. She finished with eight strikeouts on the afternoon, surrendering two walks and no runs on three hits over 7.0 innings.
For the Spartans, Alexis Rogers went 6.0 innings, allowing one run on three hits. She struck out one and walked a pair of batters.
Game one was another pitching battle as Corsairs hurler
Jill Richards and Castleton's Olivia Joy went toe-to-toe over nine innings of play. UMD nearly got on the board in the second inning as a single to left from third baseman
RaeLynn Perregaux and a walk to Rossetti saw the Corsairs with two on and two outs on the board. Despite the momentum, the Spartans were able to get left fielder
Kinu Takasugi to hit into a fielder's choice as the Spartans got the force out at third to end the inning.
Three straight innings of 1-2-3 action followed, leading up to the top of the ninth as catcher Hannah Mosher singled to right, which was followed by a double to left center by Alicia Almond to drive in the run and put the visitors up 1-0. Joy was able to get the Corsairs out in order to seal the victory.
Richards finished with 11 strikeouts, allowing just one run on five hits over 9.0 innings in which she threw 117 pitches. Joy earned the win for the Spartans, allowing no runs over 9.0 innings with five hits. She struck out five and walked two with 124 pitches thrown.
The Corsairs return to action on Wednesday, welcoming Coast Guard for a doubleheader beginning at 3pm.
