Box Score WELLESLEY, Mass. – The sixth-seeded Smith College softball team (18-12) eliminated third-seeded WPI (27-11) from the 2014 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Softball Championship with a 7-4 victory on Sunday at top-seeded Wellesley. It is the first time the Pioneers have advanced to the final day of the tournament since 2006.
Smith, who has now defeated each of its NEWMAC opponents at least once this season, draws second-seeded Wheaton next Saturday at 10:00 a.m. for the right to face Wellesley in the championship round later that day. WPI is slated to host Amherst for a re-scheduled non-conference twinbill on Tuesday beginning at 5:00 p.m.
The Pioneers had a chance to dent the scoreboard in the first inning as
Brittney Blokker (Seattle, Wash./Ballard) doubled to center and moved to third on a passed ball. WPI got out of the frame with a swinging strikeout and a fly out to center that was nearly dropped.
Tori Brown (New Market, Md./Linganore) snagged a liner to open the bottom of the frame. Katie Bumila laced the ball down the left field line. After Kristin Gallagher was hit by a pitch,
Gina Martucci (Pompton Plains, N.J./Pequannock Township) induced a fly out to center. Lauren DiFelice then reached on a shallow infield pop-up. Smith ended the threat as Brown caught a pop up to first.
Martucci drew a one-out walk and
Allison Snyder (Succasunna, N.J./Roxbury) followed with a two-out single up the middle to set the stage for a 2-RBI triple by
Joanna Giordano (South Salem, N.Y./John Jay), who scored on a miscue on the play, as the Pioneers took a 3-0 lead.
Ruth Zimmerman (Edison, N.J./John P. Stevens) quickly followed with a single to right. The Engineers got out of the frame with a ground out following a pitching change.
The Engineers went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the second.
Brown and
Edie Richardson (Franklin, Mass./Fontbonne Academy) reached on back-to-back singles but the Lauren DiFelice teamed with Bumila for a double play while DeFelice grabbed a line drive to end the inning.
Bumila singled up the middle and moved over on a Kristen Gallagher single to the pitcher. Both moved up a based courtesy of a passed ball. Juliana Fekete then sent a hit through the left side to push Bumila across. DeFelice followed with a sacrifice fly as the Engineers made it a one run ball game. Martucci recorded the punch out as WPI left one on base.
In the top of the fourth, Snyder reached on a single to left and made it to second following a miscue on the play. Giordano pushed Snyder to third with an infield single. The Pioneers loaded the bases as Zimmerman dropped a single down the third base line. Blokker plated Giordano and Snyder with a 2-RBI double to left. The bases were once again juiced following a single up the middle by Brown.
Caroline Kushner (Cheshire, Conn./Cheshire) made it 6-2 in favor of the Engineers as she pushed the ball through the left side to plate Zimmerman before Blokker was out at the plate.
Hope Shevchuk opened the home half of the fourth with a double to right center. Chiana Montesi dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move Shevchuk to third as Ali LaRue drove her in with a single up the middle. A double by Bumila drove in LaRue for the second WPI run of the inning. Martucci logged her third K of the game as the Pioneers held the 6-4 lead.
Martucci drew a four-pitch walk, to open the fifth, and was on second after a ground out by
Sarah Tully (West Simsbury, Conn./Simsbury). Snyder reached on an infield miscue before two quick outs ended the stanza.
Lindsay Gurska notched the only hit of the sixth as Martucci and Caroline Medino each induced a pair of ground outs and got the final out with a swinging strikeout. WPI went down in order in the bottom of the sixth.
Kushner led off the seventh with a flair to left field and stole second. A ground out moved Kushner to third as she later scored on an RBI single up the middle by Snyder for the insurance tally.
After Bumila lined out to Brown, Gallagher collected the final hit of the day with a single to left.
Kaela DeAngelis (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) and Snyder then handled a pair of fly outs to seal the victory.
Smith belted out 14 total hits in the victory, with six players recording two or more hits in the game. Snyder led the offensive charge for the Pioneers with a 3-for-4 performance, while Zimmerman, Blokker, Brown, Kushner, and Giordano all recorded two-hit games. Blokker and Giordano each drove in a pair of runs, while Kushner and Snyder also tallied RBI in the win. Martucci moved to 17-6 on the season, grabbing the victory. She tossed seven innings, allowing four runs on 10 hits with five strikeouts.
The WPI offense was paced by three hits from Bumila and a pair from Gallagher, while Bumila, Fekete, DiFelice, and LaRue all drove in runs in the defeat. Claire Doolin suffered the loss, throwing and inning and two thirds, allowing three runs on three hits with a pair of strikeouts. Caroline Medino came on in relief, tossing five and a third, allowing four runs on 10 hits.
(Contributions from Wellesley)
