Wildcats drop a pair to NECC rival Elms College

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College junior pitcher Destinee Meeker (Bantam, Conn.) pitched a two-hit shutout through five innings of game two, and an eight-run third inning in game one helped lift the Blazers to a doubleheader sweep of Wheelock College in Saturday afternoon’s New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) softball action at Cheryl R. Condon Field.

With the sweep, Elms improves to 11-13 on the season, 8-0 in league play, while Wheelock falls to 1-19 overall, 1-7 in NECC action.

Game One – Elms 10, Wheelock 1 (5 innings)

Tied 1-1 in the bottom of the third inning, Elms struck for eight runs, sending 13 batters to the plate in the frame. Senior right fielder Kim Lastowski (Turners Falls, Mass.) drew a leadoff walk before senior second baseman Ally Graffum (Ipswich, Mass.) singled through the right side with one out. Lastowski scored on an RBI single by freshman designated player Sarah Buckley (Wilbraham, Mass.), Graffum scored on an infield single by sophomore left fielder Marlene DiRaimo (Cranston, R.I.) and Buckley scored on an RBI base hit by sophomore third baseman Kelly Callahan (Monson, Mass.) before sophomore first baseman Alicia Campbell (Stockbridge, Mass.) earned a walk. From there, sophomore pitcher Courtney Hampton (Westfield, Mass.) helped her own cause by smacking a two-run triple to right field. Senior catcher Tiffany Williams (Berlin, Conn.) added to the lead with an RBI single bringing Lastowski back to the plate for second at-bat of the inning. She drew a walk and then advanced to second on a bunt single by Lipscomb to load the bases. Graffum then plated the seventh run of the inning on a fielder’s choice before Lastowski came full circle on a wild pitch to give Elms a 9-1 lead.

Elms plated a run in the bottom of the fourth when freshman pinch-hitter Rachel Butt (Agawam, Mass.) was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a walk to Campbell, raced to third on a fly out, and then came home on a base hit up the middle by Williams to lift the score to 10-1.

Hampton kept Wheelock of balance at the dish and tossed her fourth-straight inning of scoreless softball to seal the mercy-rule win and improve to 7-5 on the season.

Wheelock reliever Nicole Zina (Bristol, R.I.) suffered the loss, pitching the final two innings of game one.

The Wildcats took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Zina doubled to left field with one out, advanced to third on a groundout to the right side and then crossed home on a double to left off the bat of Nicole Perullo (Revere, Mass.).

Elms answered when Buckley drove in Lastowski from third with an RBI base hit to left field. Lastowski reached via the first of her three walks on the day.

Buckley and Williams finished with two hits and two RBI each, while Lastowski scored three runs to highlight the Blazers’ offensive output.

Sarah Negron (Whitinsville, Mass.) led Wheelock at the plate with two hits in the loss.

Game Two – Elms 8, Wheelock 0 (6 innings)

Elms produced its second mercy-rule victory of the day in the nightcap behind a sensational performance from Meeker in the circle. The junior pitcher took a perfect game into the fifth inning before Valerie Cook (Walpole, Mass.) blooped a single into right field, followed by a single down the left field line by Amanda Seibert (Salem, Conn.) to give Wheelock two runners on. However, Meeker used a strikeout, an out on a fielder’s choice and a lineout to second base to keep the Wildcats off the board.

Junior reliever Ani Ramdsell (Gardner, Mass.) pitched the final frame and issued a strikeout to help the Blazers secure the sweep. Meeker earned the victory to move to 3-0, while Wheelock starter Zina suffered the loss.

Elms scored two runs in the bottom of the first when Lipscomb earned a one-out free pass, stole second advanced to third on a single through the left side by Graffum and then scored on an outfield throwing error.  Graffum then scored on an RBI single to center field by DiRaimo to batters later.

The Blazers extended their lead to 5-0 with three runs in the bottom of the second on the strength of an RBI groundout by Lipscomb and a run-scoring triple by Graffum. Graffum sprinted the final 60 feet on a passed ball to give Elms a five-run advantage.

The Blazers tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the fourth when Graffum singled in Lipscomb who had reached via walk, and the later scored when Buckley reached on a fielding error in the outfield to lift the lead to 7-0.

In the bottom of the sixth, Lipscomb connected for an infield single but was out on a fielder’s choice by Graffum. Graffum then stole second and third and came home on an errant throw by the catcher to plate the eighth run of the game and give Elms an 8-0 mercy rule victory.

 
Wheelock returns to NECC action on Sunday, April 25 when it hosts Mitchell College at 3:30 pm at Pine Manor Field.