FT. MYERS, Fla. – The Roger Williams University Softball team has its offense in high gear in the final game of the 2010 Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic, as the Hawks put 25 runs on the board in their two games, a 13-3 win over Fitchburg State College followed by a 12-13 nine-inning loss to SUNY New Paltz.
In the win over Fitchburg State, Roger Williams jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second on a pair of two-RBI hits by senior Kerry Burke (Old Saybrook, Conn.) and freshman Madison Martines (Framingham, Mass.). Burke brought in classmate Samantha Teves and sophomore Hannah Pirez (Bolton, Mass.), while Martines' single scored Burke and freshman Laura McConnell (Lexington, Mass.). Senior Melissa Sereti (Shrewsbury, Mass.) would later knock in Martines on an RBI groundout.
The scoring would continue later in the fourth and fifth innings, as the Hawks tacked on four runs in each of the frames. Sereti, Pirez, Burke, and Lauren Tierney (Middleboro, Mass.) each had RBI hits in the fourth to extend the lead to 9-0. Fitcburg State put three runs in the bottom half of the inning, including Nicole Monroe's (Townsend, Mass.) two-RBI triple. Yet the Hawks added four more in the fifth, highlighted by Pirez's two-run home run.
Freshman Kelly Marcin (Windsor Locks, Conn.) earned the victory, striking out five and allowing three runs in the shortened five-inning game. Pirez was a perfect 4-for-4 from the plate with three RBI and two runs. Burke added two hits, three RBI, and a run scored.
The second game saw both teams struggle to score early on before the offense went to work. New Paltz struck first in the bottom of the fourth with Samantha Barra (Islip, N.Y.) and Melissa Liotta (Brentwood, N.Y.) coming around to score. The Hawks would respond in the fifth with four runs, highlighted by a two-RBI single by Michelle Caprice (Oak Ridge, Conn.).
In the bottom half of the inning, New Paltz answered with three runs in the frame, which would become a theme over the remainder of the game. In the top of the sixth, RWU scored another four runs to take an 8-5 lead, but New Paltz again responded with three runs in their next at-bat to tie the game at eight and eventually force extra innings.
In the top of the eighth, Pirez's two-RBI triple helped fuel another four-run inning for the Hawks, who went up 12-8 entering the bottom of the frame. Yet New Paltz would continue to battle, sending nine batters to the plate and scoring four runs of their own to tie the game at 12. New Paltz would complete the comeback in the ninth on Casandra Barcavage's (Cold Spring, N.Y.) walkoff single.
Marcin suffered the loss, allowing eight runs (five earned) in the final three innings of relief in the game walking two and striking out two. Pirez finished 4-for-5 with three RBI and two runs for RWU, while Sereti, Castro, and Marcin added two hits and two runs apiece.
Roger Williams concludes its Spring Break trip with a 6-4 record and will begin Commonwealth Coast Conference play Wednesday in the team's home opener against Anna Maria College.
