Softball Drops Two to Albertus in New England Debut

New Haven, Conn. – The Lasell College softball team fell to Albertus Magnus on both ends of a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Celentano Field. The Falcons won the opener, 9-1, in five innings and blanked the Lasers, 6-0, in the finale.

Lasell drops to 3-9 on the spring and 0-2 in conference while Albertus Magnus extends its winning streak to five games and sits 13-3 overall and 4-0 in league play.

Game One

The guests got on the board early, plating their lone run on the day in the first inning. With two outs in the frame, back-to-back hits put Lasell on the board, highlighted by a run-scoring double to right center by Erin Larghi (Wakefield, R.I.). In the bottom of the first, AMC would answer courtesy of an RBI groundout from sophomore shortstop Brianna Whitfield (West Islip, N.Y.).

After allowing a run in the opening stanza, Albertus Magnus starting pitcher Megan Ferraro (Branford, Conn.) shutdown the Lasers. Over the final four innings, she allowed just two hits and Ferraro retired the final seven batters she faced. Ferraro went the distance to pick up her team-leading seventh win of the year.

The Falcons blew the game open with four runs in the third and three in the fourth. Whitfield paced the AMC attack, going 2-for-3 with three RBIs, while junior Rachel Cataudella (Shelton, Conn.) and sophomore Gillian Fortier (Naugatuck, Conn.) each added two hits apiece. Fortier scored a season-high three runs in the game andMegan Kelly (Bronx, N.Y.) added two RBIs.

Game Two

Albertus Magnus pitchers Samantha Maselli (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) and Shyleen Ortiz (New Britain, Conn.) combined to toss a four-hit shutout to give the hosts their fourth conference victory of the spring.

At the dish, senior outfielder Alyssa Puccilli (Milford, Conn.) went 4-for-4 with two runs scored to lead the charge for the Falcons. Junior Amanda Jessey (East Haven, Conn.) also contributed three hits and an RBI.

AMC scored two runs in the bottom of the first courtesy of an RBI single by Kirsten McGinty (East Lyme, Conn.) and a Laser throwing error. The Falcons would stretch their lead with single runs in both the third and fourth frames before putting it out of reach with a pair of runs in the fifth.

Maselli worked the first four innings to earn her second win of the spring and Ortiz threw the final three frames to register the save. In her first outing this year Ortiz looked sharp, surrendering just two hits without a walk.

Both teams will cram in GNAC contests tomorrow beginning at 12:00, as Lasell hosts Suffolk University while the Falcons travel to Rivier.