BEVERLY, Mass. – The Roger Williams University Softball team won its first game of The Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament over Salve Regina University 4-1, but then fell 6-8 to Endicott College in the double elimination phase.
Jaclyn Doolin (Miller Place, N.Y.) of RWU and Sarah Jakiela (Meriden, Conn.) of Salve Regina were locked in a pitcher's duel over the first four innings of the game, as neither team could manage to get a run across the board over that stretch.
That would change in the bottom of the fifth with Samantha Teves (Somerset, Mass.) reaching on a single, followed by Christine Bean (Southampton, Mass.) getting on via an error and Renee Bilotti (Bristol, R.I.) bunting her way on. With the bases loaded, Sarah Grill (Watervliet, Mass.) brought everyone home with a grand slam to give the Hawks a 4-0 lead.
The Seahawks threatened to come back in their final at-bat with Amaran Garbisch (Ghent, N.Y.) singling up the middle to score Emily Rodenhiser (Danvers, Mass.) with two outs. Yet the Hawks were able to escape with the win after getting the forceout at second to end the game.
Doolin earned her 21st win of the season with the complete-game seven hitter, walking one and striking out three. Grill's had a run and four RBI in the game, with her one hit the grand slam.
Jakiela took the loss after giving up four runs (three earned) in six innings. Caitlin Poplawski (New Britain, Conn.) was 3-for-3 at the dish with Garbisch adding two hits and an RBI.
The win advanced the Hawks against top-seeded site host Endicott. Against the Gulls, the Hawks opened the game with a three-run home run by Hannah Pirez (Bolton, Conn.) in the top of the first. The Gulls responded with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game.
In the top of the third, the Hawks added another three runs the same way as they got the first three; via a three-run homer by Pirez, her first multi-homer game of her career. Trailing 6-3, Endicott cut the deficit to one in the bottom of the frame on a two-run home run by Ashley Wright (Merrimack, N.H.).
The Gulls would complete the comeback in the fifth, tying the game at six apiece on Jenna Lazar's RBI double, then taking their first lead of the game when Lazar scored on Casey Shanley's (Billerica, Mass.) RBI single. Endicott added an insurance run in the sixth and held on for the win after setting the Hawks down in order in the seventh.
Jenna Bortolotti (Milton, Mass.) earned the win, pitching 4.1 innings of scoreless relief after Jackie Collier (Swampscott, Mass.) gave up all six Hawk runs in 2.2 innings of work. Wright finished the day 3-for-3 with four RBI and two runs.
Doolin suffered the loss, allowing all eight runs in 5.2 innings of work. Pirez finished 2-for-4 with six RBI and two runs, while Michelle Caprice (Oak Ridge, N.J.) added three hits.
Roger Williams (28-16) looks to avoid elimination as the Hawks take on Nichols College, which fell 5-6 to Curry College earlier in the day, Thursday at 2:30 at Gordon College.
