BRISTOL, R.I. – Endicott College extended its winning streak to eight games with a doubleheader sweep of the Roger Williams University Softball team, taking the first game by a 7-0 score and the second 9-0.
The two wins for Endicott broke a tie between the Gulls and Roger Williams for second place in The Commonwealth Coast Conference. Endicott now takes sole possession of second with a two-game lead on the Hawks.
In the opener, Endicott grabbed an early 2-0 lead in the top of the second, when Colleen Martin (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) scored herself and Ashley Wright (Merrimack, N.H.) via a two-run home run to left field. The score would remain 2-0 in favor of the Gulls until the fifth, when Martin added two more runs on a two-RBI single to bring in Hayley Hovhanessian (Farmington, Conn.) and Jennie Lacolla (Stoneham, Mass.).
Endicott wrapped up the scoring with a three-run sixth inning, getting RBI hits from Hovhanessian, Wright, and Mattie Brett (Waterford, Conn.).
Offensively, the Hawks were held in check by Jenna Bortolotti (Milton, Mass.), who won her 12th game of the year by giving up only four hits in the game with four strikeouts and not allowing a Hawk past first. Martin finished 2-for-4 with a run and four RBIs for Endicott.
Jaclyn Doolin (Miller Place, N.Y.) took the loss for the Hawks, allowing four runs (three earned) in five innings, striking out six in the process. Doolin, Erica Castro (Medford, N.Y.), Hannah Pirez (Bolton, Mass.), and Kaitlyn Costa (Cranston, R.I.) each went 1-for-3 for the Hawks in the game.
The second game of the doubleheader began as a pitcher's duel between Kelly Marcin (Windsor Locks, Conn.) and Nell O'Connor (Harwich, Mass.). Both righties worked out of the occasion jam and held the opposition scoreless over the first four innings. O'Connor escaped both the first and fourth innings with runners on first and second, while Marcin kept runners at third base from scoring in both the first and second innings.
The tide turned in favor for Endicott in the fifth, brining 11 batters to the plate in the inning. Wright and Martin both reached base to lead off the inning, followed by Byrne Katz (Trumbull, Conn.) dropping in a base-clearing hit past a diving Hannah Pearson (Warren, R.I.) for the first runs of the game. By the end of the frame, the Gulls had taken a 7-0 lead. Endicott tacked on two more runs in the seventh to go up 9-0 en route to the win.
O'Connor picked up the shutout, scattering five singles with two strikeouts. Hovhanessian and Wright both finished 2-for-4 with a run scored, while Hovhanessian added two RBI. Jocelyn Russo (Middletown, Conn.) went 3-for-4 with a run.
Marcin took the loss for the Hawks, giving up seven runs in 4.1 innings on eight hits with three strikeouts. Lauren Tierney (Middleboro, Mass.) went 1-for-3, while Pirez and Costa each extended their hit streaks to three with a single each.
Roger Williams (11-16, 9-3 TCCC) will travel to Western New England College tomorrow for a noon game, while Endicott hosts Curry College at the same time.
