Softball Splits with Knox and Brockport

FORT MYERS, Fla. (3/18/15) - The Lasell College softball team went 1-1 in the fourth day of their spring trip on Wednesday afternoon at the Lee County Sports Complex. The Lasers took game one 11-7 over Knox College, but fell 5-1 in the second game of the day versus SUNY-Brockport. With the spilt, Lasell fell to 3-5 on the season, while Knox dropped to 0-4, and Brockport evened its record at 5-5.

LASELL 11, KNOX 7

Lasell junior pitcher Eileen Bergin (Arlington, Mass.) pitched a complete game improving her record to 2-1 this season. Bergin scattered seven hits, allowed four runs (one earned), three walks alongside four strikeouts. Sophomore second baseman Erin Smith (Gorham, Maine) paced the Lasers offense with a 2-for-3 showing at the plate, drove in a pair of runs, and scored a run of her own, while junior catcher Nicole LeBlanc (Easton, Mass.) also knocked in two RBIs and scored two runs for Lasell. Lasers junior left fielder Erin Larghi (Wakefield, R.I.) worked four walks from the leadoff spot in the lineup to help Lasell to its 11 run afternoon. 

In the top half of the second inning, Smith drove in the Lasers' first two runs with a line drive single to centerfield that drove in Larghi and senior Denise Archetto (Cranston, R.I.). Lasell added three runs in the top of the fourth that made the score 5-0. After sophomore shortstop Emily Noll (Weymouth, Mass.) reached on an error and Larghi worked a walk, runners were on first and second with one out. LeBlanc came to bat after Smith advanced the runners on a sacrifice bunt. LeBlanc tripled to right field which drove in both runners, and junior Emily DeAngelis (Shelton, Conn.) doubled to left field that brought home LeBlanc in the next at-bat. 

Knox tallied seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take the lead away 7-5. With runners on second and third with one out, senior outfielder Claire Neri crossed the plate on a passed ball that put the Prairie Fire on the board, 5-1. Freshman Emily Stevenson (Tinley Park, Ill.) stole home after lining a single to left, while classmate Kristen Koviekis (Tinley Park, Ill.) came around to score after sophomore Chelsey Howard (Galesburg, Ill.) worked a walk with the bases loaded for Knox's third run of the game.  

With the bases still juiced in the bottom of the fifth, freshman Dominique Scott (Oak Park, Ill.) singled up the middle for the Prairie Fire's fourth run, which was followed by two consecutive walks and made the score 6-5 for Knox's first lead of the game. After a pitching change from the Lasers, Stevenson singled to centerfield which drove in Scott in her second at-bat of the inning. Bergin came back into the game and got the innings final two outs via a strikeout and a groundout, but Knox grabbed the lead, 7-5, for the time being. 

Lasell answered in the next inning with six runs of their own and seized the lead 11-7. The trio of Smith, LeBlanc and DeAngelis loaded the bases to lead off the inning. Smith scored from third after a fielding error from Knox, Bergin grounded out to first which drove in LeBlanc, and DeAngelis scored on a passed ball, that gave the Lasers an 8-7 advantage with only one out in the inning. The Lasers drove in three more runs in the same inning and hung on for an eventual 11-7 victory in the first game of the day.

BROCKPORT 5, LASELL 1

Junior pitcher Korey Kibling (LaFayette, N.Y.) tossed a four-hit, one run complete game for the Golden Eagles to even her record to 2-2 this spring. Brockport senior centerfielder Brianna Ferchen (Oneonta, N.Y.) was a perfect 4-for-4 from the leadoff spot to go along with three RBI's this afternoon, while classmate third baseman Ciara Condello (Rochester, N.Y.) went 1-for-2 with two RBI's. 

Lasell sophomore pitcher Krystel Enko (Haydenville, Mass.) allowed five earned runs, seven hits and five walks alongside four strikeouts over the first four 1/3 innings. Bergin threw one 2/3 innings in relief scattering a pair of hits out of the pen. The Lasers received their only run via an RBI single from freshman Laura MacLeod (Old Saybrook, Conn.) in the top of the fourth inning that drove in DeAngelis. 

Brockport began the bottom of the second inning with back-to-back singles from freshman Karleigh Eaton (Endicott, N.Y.) and junior Tabitha McBride (Marcellus, N.Y.), while freshman Stephanie Scala (Shrub Oak, N.Y.) walked to load the bases. Condello drove in Eaton on a groundout to shortstop and Ferchen lined a single to centerfield that plated McBride, giving the Golden Eagles a 3-0 advantage. 

DeAngelis singled to the left side with one out in the top of the fourth inning, and MacLeod drilled a single that brought home DeAngelis after a throwing error by Brockport to cut Lasell's deficit 2-1. 

Brockport added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning when Condello was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and Ferchen reached on an infield single that brought home McBride to extend the lead to 5-1. Kibling pitched a perfect top of the seventh for the Golden Eagles as Brockport held on for the 5-1 victory.

Lasell plays its final two games in Fort Myers, Fla. tomorrow with a doubleheader that features Wisconsin-Superior and Stevens Institute of Technology with the first pitch slated for 9:00 a.m.