Mitchell Defeats Newbury to Advance to the NECC Semi-Finals

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College softball team finished with 12 hits in a 13-0 victory over Newbury College on Tuesday afternoon in a quarterfinals match-up of the 2010 NECC Softball Championship.
 
Mitchell (21-12 overall) advances on to play second-seeded Elms College in the semifinals on Friday, May 7 at noon. The semifinals and championship game will be hosted by top-seeded Lesley University on the campus of UMass Boston in Cambridge, Mass. Newbury ends its season with an overall record of 12-23.
 
The Mariners scored three runs in the first inning to jump out to an early lead. Freshman Meghan Burke (Bronx, N.Y.) had an RBI single in the rally while senior Michele Anderson (Scotland, Conn.) capped things off with an RBI double to right.
 
Mitchell tacked on another run in the second before the game was delayed for nearly 90 minutes due to a passing thunderstorm. When the game resumed, Mitchell struck for four more runs in the frame to lead 8-0 heading into the third. The Mariners sent a total of nine batters to the plate in the frame, with sophomore Nikki Hoxie (Winsted, Conn.) supplying the big blow with a two-run homer to center field. It was the first home run of her collegiate career.
 
Mitchell added five more runs in the fourth to put the game out of reach. Senior Kelly Reynolds (Quaker Hill, Conn.) plated the first run with a grounder to third, and sophomore Marissa Thomas (New London, Conn.) followed with an RBI single through the right side. A wild pitch brought in the next run, and junior Jen Bordonaro (Winsted, Conn.) drew a bases-loaded walk to force in another. The final run crossed the plate on a ground out by Hoxie and put the Mariners up 13-0.
 
Mitchell sophomore Kristina Torres (Groton, Conn.) gave up three hits over 5.0 innings to record her sixth shutout of the season. She struck out nine and walked one and improved to 10-7 overall on the season.
 
Bordonaro went 3-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored to lead the Mitchell offense. Sophomore Stacey Suplicki (New London, Conn.) also had three hits while Anderson and Thomas each finished with a pair.
 
Newbury starter Katie O’Hara (Abingdon, Md.) gave up 13 runs (12 earned) on 12 hits and struck out three while walking four. She finished the season with an overall record of 8-11. Ariel Ross (Gales Ferry, Conn.) had two of the Nighthawks’ three hits in the contest.

Story Provided by: Mitchell Sports Information