PLYMOUTH, N.H.—Plymouth State University jumped out to leads of 6-0 and 7-0, en-route to a Little East Conference doubleheader sweep of UMass Boston softball on Saturday afternoon at D&M Park.
THE BASICS
Plymouth State 6, UMass Boston 2
Plymouth State 9, UMass Boston 1 (5 Innings)
(UMass Boston 2-4, Little East 2-4)
(Plymouth State 11-7, Little East 6-2)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The hosts scored two or more runs in six different innings across the two games, to earn a sweep over the Beacons.
Senior
Kelly Danahy (Kingston, Mass.) led the Beacons with three hits on the day, while sophomore
Tam Landry (Leominster, Mass.) was the lone Beacon to finish with an RBI and a run scored on the afternoon.
GAME ONE RECAP
Plymouth State University scored two runs on three separate occasions and fifth-year senior ace Caitlyn Miller limited the Beacons to five hits in a 6-2 loss.
Miller went the full seven innings and scattered five hits and two earned runs. She struck out five Beacons to move to 5-3 on the year.
UMass Boston junior starter
Hayley Catania (Amesbury, Mass.) took the loss after allowing four runs and seven hits in five innings. Freshmen
Elayna Jacques (North Kingstown, R.I.) made her collegiate debut in the seventh and allowed four hits and two earned runs.
Danahy paced the Beacons offense with two hits and a run scored in three at-bats.
Brianna Melchionda (Marshfield, Mass.) recorded the team's lone extra-base hit with a triple.
Sarah Harlinski (Sturbridge, Mass.) and Landry added the Beacons final two hits.
Plymouth State took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Emily Picard led off the inning with a double and Sam McCann followed with a single. With both runners in scoring position and one out, Katie Burk drove in both runners with a two-run, ground-rule double to left.
The hosts doubled their lead in the fifth. Jen Landers led off the inning with a bunt single, stole second and moved to third on a sac bunt. She scampered home on Abby Kennison's RBI single. With two down, Alexis Michon drove in pinch runner Mina Shaw.
Plymouth State pushed their lead to 6-0 in the sixth. With two outs and a runner on second, Landers, Vanessa Bryan and Shaw hit back-to-back-to-back singles to score two runs.
UMass Boston broke up Miller's shutout bid in the seventh. Danahy led off with a bunt single and raced all the way home on Melchionda's triple to center. Landry followed with an RBI single of her own to plate Melchionda.
GAME TWO
Plymouth State scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning and cruised to a 9-1 mercy-rule victory.
The Panthers took advantage of four Beacons errors, including two miscues in the bottom of the first inning.
Melchionda took her first collegiate loss, after allowing seven hits and seven runs (one earned) in four innings.
Michon improved to 6-3 after striking out eight and limiting the Beacons to four hits and one earned run.
Lauryn Bethea (Springfield, Mass.),
Alley Diaute (Braintree, Mass.), Landry and Danahy each finished with a hit for the Beacons.
Plymouth State took control of the game in the first. With two outs and no one on, Michon helped herself with a triple and scored on a Picard RBI single. The Panthers loaded the Beacons on a walk and a single and then blew the game open thanks to a pair of errors with two outs.
The hosts stretched their lead to 7-0 in the top of the fourth, before the Beacons broke up the shutout bid in the fifth.
Landry blasted a ground-rule double to left field and easily scored on Bethea's RBI single up the middle. The Beacons put two runners on with one out, but Michon retired the final two batters without any further damage.
The Panthers ended the game early in the fifth. Each of the five batters stepped to the plate reached base, as two Beacons pitchers hit the first four batters and Lauren Archambault delivered a walk-off RBI single.
BY THE NUMBERS
- With the sweep, Plmyouth State improves to 41-14 all-time against the Beacons. UMass Boston had won six of the previous nine meetings going into Saturday's doubleheader.
- Bethea recorded her first career RBI in game two.
- Danahy has hit safely in all six games this season and is hitting .611 (11-18) on the season.
- UMass Boston allowed a season-high nine runs in game two and committed a season-high four errors in the loss.
BY THE NUMBERS
UMass Boston will return home on Tuesday, when they host red-hot University of Southern Maine at 3:30 and 5:30 p.m. The Huskies have won 12 in a row and received votes in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association National Poll this week.
