Mountaineers Softball Can’t Halt Blazers
Box Score Game 1 Box Score Game 2
BENNINGTON, Vt. – The Southern Vermont College softball team was swept by visiting New England Collegiate Conference foe the Blazers of Elms College 10-1 and 10-2 Sunday afternoon at Willow Park Field. The Mountaineers falls to 1-14 overall, 0-6 NECC, while the Elms improves to 8-11 overall, 6-0 NECC.
Elms kicked off game one with two quick runs in the first inning. Freshman Sarah Buckley and senior Ally Graffum singled to get the Blazers going with two outs. The next batter walked and sophomore Kelly Callahan put Elms on the board with an RBI single to make it 1-0. A wild pitch by SVC freshman pitcher Talan Barron gave Buckley a chance to take home to make it 2-0 Blazers.
The Mountaineers responded with a solid start as Barron crushed a triple to the fence to put a runner in scoring position. Sophomore captain Alyssa Davis lined an RBI infield single making it 2-1 still in Elms favor after one inning of play.
After two scoreless innings for both squads Elms got five runs in the fourth inning. A Buckley tripled knocking two runs in, a few Blazers singles, and three Mountaineer errors gave Elms a 7-1 lead heading into the top of the fourth.
The Blazers went on to score three more runs in the fifth and held the Mountaineers from scoring in the top of the inning to get the 10-1 win.
Elms’ sophomore pitcher Courtney Hampton finished with seven strikeouts to pick up her fifth win of the season (5-4). Southern Vermont starter Barron suffered the loss and falls to 0-6 overall.
Callahan went 3-for-4 at the dish with two RBI, while Graffum and McBride added two hits each.
Barron helped her cause on offense with a 2-for-3 day at the plate with a run scored in the loss for the Mountaineers.
The nightcap saw Elms post an 8-0 lead after the first two and half innings, highlighted by a five-run first frame. Senior Kim Lastowski, sophomore Jenna Lipscomb and Buckley registered back-to-back-to-back singles, with Buckley plating Lastowski on her base hit.
Graffum walked to load the bases before Lipscomb scored on a wild pitch to give Elms a 2-0 lead. Buckley and Graffum each scored on errant throws before Callahan singled in the fifth run of the inning to give the Blazers a 5-0 cushion.
In the top of the second, McBride drove in Buckley who reached on a one-out walk to lift Elms’ lead to 6-0.
An inning later, the Blazers plated two more runs thanks to a Southern Vermont miscue that allowed sophomore left fielder Marlene DiRaimo to score, and an RBI base hit from Buckley.
The Mountaineers plated two in the bottom of the third to cut the lead to six runs (8-2), but Elms got the two scores back in the top of the fourth.
Blazers’ junior pitcher Destinee Meeker improved to 2-0 on the season following a stellar performance in the circle. She fanned two batters and limited the Mountaineers to six hits, guiding Elms to its second five-inning mercy rule victory of the day.
Southern Vermont starter Gabrielle Remillard suffered the complete-game loss and falls to 1-8 on the season.
Lastowski, Buckley and McBride each contributed two hits in the win, while Buckley and McBride scored two runs apiece. Buckley also drove in two runs in the win.
Remillard and Whitman each went 2-for-3 and the Mountaineers two runs were drove in by Remillard and Davis.
Southern Vermont is back in action when it hosts non-conference foe SUNY Cobleskill Thursday, April 15th, with the games starting at 3:30 p.m.
