Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The #5 seed Roger Williams University Softball began the double elimination portion of the Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament with a 3-2 nine-inning win against the #4 seed University of New England before falling 1-0 in ten innings to Western New England University.
 
Western New England (23-16) will host third-seeded Salve Regina on Thursday when the double elimination phase of the CCC Tournament continues, while Roger Williams (21-18), which defeated the University of New England in today's early game, will take on sixth-seeded Eastern Nazarene on Thursday at American International College. The University of New England (25-14) will look to stay alive on Thursday (2 p.m.) against second seed Endicott College. That elimination match (Game 7) will be played back at WNEU.
 
Game One
 
Veronica Alicea (Trumbull, Conn.) pulled a one-out triple down the left field line to score two in the top of the 9th inning. Meghan Maliga (Suffield, Conn.) improved her personal record to 11-9 with the complete-game win for RWU, striking out three against four walks and seven hits. Her counterpart for most of the contest, UNE starter Abby Lambert (CCC 3rd Team), went eight frames in a no-decision of three strikeouts and three hits with two free passes. Melissa Sprague took the loss for the Nor'easters.
 
Things were scoreless through four stanzas, though Roger Williams needed consecutive fly outs to keep it that way in the UNE 2nd, when the home team threatened with runners at first and third. The Hawks then received a lead-off homer to left in the 5th by Julianne Vesce (CCC 2nd Team) to take the lead.
 
The Nor'easters responded in the bottom of the 6th, which Avery Alberghini (CCC 1st Team & Rookie of the Year) started with a bunt single. After two ground outs and a walk, Kelly Murphy brought Alberghini in to tie the score (1-1) with a single through the left side.
 
Lambert induced three fly outs in the RWU 7th to give her side a chance to end it in regulation, but UNE was unable to do anything with a lead-off walk and then a two-out walk. Lambert breezed through the 8th, and again the Nor'easters could not produce a tally after the initial batter reached in the last half of the session.
 
With one away in what proved to be the deciding frame, back-to-back singles from Mikaela Grosso and Micaela Pohl set the stage for Alicea's go-ahead hit.
 
UNE managed the keep the deficit at 3-1 for its at-bat, and a fielder's choice on the second out put Sydney Helmbrecht (CCC 2nd Team) aboard for an RBI-double to left-center by Alberghini that cut the margin to one. However, Maliga fanned the ensuing hitter to seal the result for the Hawks.
 
Meredith Moise (CCC 3rd Team) had a team-high two hits for Roger Williams, while Amanda Vallante (CCC 1st Team) and Andrea Gosper (CCC 2nd Team) joined Alberghini with two hits for the Nor'easters.
 
Game Two
 
Senior pitcher Heidi Grieger (Hyde Park, N.Y.) allowed just two hits over ten shutout innings and sophomore Jenn Luba (Plymouth, Conn.) drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the tenth.
 
Grieger was dominant in the circle this evening, retiring the first 18 batters that she faced in order before Roger Williams senior outfielder Taylor Messier (Cranston, R.I.) led off the seventh inning with a bloop single to left field, breaking up her perfect game bid. Grieger, the CCC Pitcher of the Year, struck out three batters and improved to 15-6 this season with the win.
 
Roger Williams freshman pitcher Juliet Hulme (Duxbury, Mass.) was nearly as impressive, surrendering just one run on five hits over 9.1 innings of work.
 
With both pitchers in control, the game reached the tenth inning without any runs on the board. Grieger worked around Messier's second leadoff single to get out of the top of the tenth unscathed, and the senior then led off the bottom of the inning with a single through the left side of the infield.
 
After moving up to second on a sacrifice by junior Katie Wood (Westport, Mass.) and advancing to third on a wild pitch, Grieger came in to score the game-winning run on Luba's walk-off single.
 
Junior Gabby Lavinio (Dalton, Mass.) and seniors McKenzie Pezze (Albany, N.Y.) and Heather Fecteau (Biddeford, Maine) had one hit each for the Golden Bears. 
 
- Release courtesy of the University of New England and Western New England University Sports Information Department