BOSTON – No. 1 Lesley University bested No. 5 Newbury College 8-0 in the New England Collegiate Conference Softball Tournament Quarterfinals Friday morning at UMass-Boston's Clark Athletics Center Field.
Starting pitcher Jennifer Dorval (Franklin, NH/Franklin) struck out 12 in five innings, allowing only a single hit and three walks in shutting down the Nighthawks.
She struck out two in the top of the first before Lesley quietly batted around with seven runs on eight singles and a costly passed ball. Leading 3-0, a Maria Nazzaro (North Reading, MA/St. Mary's) RBI single made it a 5-0 game, and the freshman right fielder came around to score all the way from second on a passed ball to make it a 7-0 game after one.
Dorval held the Nighthawks in check all morning, fanning 10 in her first four innings, but Newbury starter Rebecca Roach (Charlton, MA/Shepherd Hill) settled down after the rocky first, keeping the Lynx off the board in the following three innings.
Nazzaro scored on a Gabrielle Brixey (Coalinga, CA/West Hills CC) single in the fifth, as the Lynx won, 5-0, in five.
Brixey enjoyed a perfect 4-for-4 day with a run scored, an RBI and her league-leading fifth triple. Nazzaro went 2-for-3 with two RBIs in support of Dorval, who improved to 14-2.
For Newbury, Teressa Hylinski (Strafford, NH/Strafford) went 1-for-3.
Lesley will take on the winner of today's noon game between Mitchell and Elms at 4 p.m., while Newbury takes on the loser at 2 p.m.
Elms 5, Mitchell 0
BOSTON – No. 2 Elms College knocked off No. 3 seed Mitchell College, 5-0, in New England Collegiate Conference Softball Tournament play Friday afternoon on the campus of UMass-Boston.
The Blazers jumped up in the first, when leadoff hitter Alison McBride (East Providence, Ri/East Providence) singled to left and advanced to third on a two-base Mitchell throwing error. She scored on a Jenna Lipscomb (Cambridge, MA/Lawrence) RBI groundout to short, putting the Blazers on top 1-0 after one.
Elms added two in the third, when Jenna Lipscomb and Rachel Butt (Agwam, MA/Agwam) knocked back-to-back RBI singles, giving starter Destinee Meeker (Bantam, CT/Litchfield) a bit of insurance.
While Meeker wouldn't need it, the Blazers chipped on two more in the sixth compliments of a pair of Mariners infield errors. The Blazers senior earned her 12th win with a walk-free, three-hit, five-strikeout victory in her fifth shutout of the year.
Lipscomb led the Blazers with a 2-for-3 day at the plate, scoring once and driving in two.
For the Mariners, Brittany Zaccaria (White Plains, NY/Maria Regina) went 2-for-3.
Mitchell will now take on Newbury in an elimination game at 2:00 p.m. The Blazers play top-seed Elms at 4 p.m. with a trip to the championship on the line.
