Thornton, Roach Pave Way to Split with Mariners

Starter Rebecca Roach (Charlton, Mass./Shepherd Hill Regional) registered 11 strikeouts while classmate right fielder Sarah Thornton (Clifton Springs, N.Y./Midlakes) was a perfect four-for-four on the afternoon with three runs scored as the Newbury College softball team earned a split against Mitchell College.

The Mariners took game one of the afternoon, 7-2 behind starter Marissa Thomas (New London, Conn./Saint Bernard) who tossed a complete game while fanning six Nighthawks. Centerfielder Jen Bordonaro (Winsted, Conn./Gilbert School) turned an infield single down third base into a double, swiping the second base bag to get into scoring position. She came around to score the first run of the game on after second baseman Nikki Hoxie (Winsted, Conn./Gilbert School) reached after a throwing error by the third baseman.

That was all Mitchell was going to get in the top of the first. Roach settled down and minimized the damage getting two quick flyouts before getting catcher Meghan Burke (Bronx, N.Y./Preston) to ground out to Newbury third baseman Audrey Spataro (Holland, Mass./Malden) to strand Hoxie at second.

Mitchell grabbed an insurance run in the top of the third but Newbury cut the lead in half an inning later. Nighthawks second baseman Teressa Farioli (East Longmeadow, Mass./East Longmeadow) led off the home half of the fourth with a double and advanced to third on a ground ball to shortstop off the bat of Roach. Left fielder Samantha Rios (Bronx, N.Y./School of the Future) drove in Farioli with Newbury’s first run with a ground ball to shortstop Stacey Suplicki (New London, Conn./Saint Bernard).

It was a one run ballgame until the top of the sixth when the Mariners batted around to put up a five spot and essentially seal their third New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) victory.

The bats came alive for Newbury in the second game of the twin bill. The Nighthawks jumped on the scoreboard early, putting up three runs in the bottom of the second when they took advantage a few Mariner miscues.

Catcher Ariel Ross (Gales Ferry, Conn./Ledyard) lead-off the home half reaching on an error by left fielder Brittany Zaccaria (White Plains, N.Y./Maria Regina). Following a single by Rios, Thornton recorded her first, of four hits in the game, and drove in Ross and Rios for the first two runs of the night-cap. Three batters later shortstop Theresa Hylinski (Stratford, Conn./Stratford) came through lining a two-out single to drive in Thornton from  third with the game’s third run.

Mitchell was not going to go quietly. They responded scoring three unanswered runs – on in the third and two in the fourth – to get back in the game. But Newbury was not going to be denied their first victory of the season.

Rios and Thornton led off the bottom of the fourth with back-to-back base hits and advanced into scoring position when Mariner starter Tricia Tomaselli (Guilford, Conn./Guilford) uncorked a wild pitch. Two batters later, centerfielder Brittany Stracher (Dudley, Mass./Shepherd Hill Regional) plated Rios with a base hit to bring the order back around to the top. Hylinski continued to keep the pressure on Tomaselli driving in her second run of the game with another single to plate Thornton and move Stracher up a bag. First baseman Joanna Robie (Andover, Mass./Andover ) joined in on the action with a base hit and an RBI of her own. Roach helped her own cause and drove in Hylinski with a single of her own.

The Nighthawks knocked Tomaselli out of the ballgame as she went just four innings allowing seven runs on 10 hits while striking out five. Newbury scored three more times in the fifth against Thomas, who came on in relief, to take game two 10-4.

The win gave Newbury their first win of the season as they improve to 1-18 and 1-3 in the conference while Mitchell falls to 6-12 and 3-1 in the NECC. The Nighthawks return to the diamond on Wednesday April 13^th when they oppose Framingham State University on the road. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00pm.

Game Notes:

Roach launched her first collegiate career homerun in the first game when she led off the bottom of the seventh with a round-tripper. It was Newbury’s third homerun on the 2011 campaign.