PRIDE SWEEP WHEELOCK IN NECC OPENER

WESTON, Mass. – Freshmen Rachel DesRochers (Westford, Mass.) and Rachel Tortora (Malden, Mass.) and sophomore Katie Cuozzo (Lynn, Mass.) combined to rap out 16 hits and knock in 19 runs to lead the Regis College softball team to a convincing doubleheader sweep over host Wheelock College, winning the first game, 20-0, and the nightcap, 26-3 today in New England Collegiate Conference action on the Regis campus.

The pair of games were originally scheduled at Wheelock, but unfavorable playing conditions moved the game to Weston, while keeping the Wildcats as the host team. The Pride improve to 2-7 overall and 2-0 in league play, while Wheelock falls to 0-4 and 0-2.

Cuozzo finished the day going 5-9 with a pair of doubles, three runs scored and six RBI, while Tortora was 6-11 with seven runs batted in and three runs scored. DesRochers finished the day going 5-8 with six RBI and six runs scored to go with a stolen base for Regis.

The Pride used a seven-run third to break the game open and take a 12-0 advantage in the opener. Junior Sam Bliss (Framingham, Mass.) keyed the frame with a two-run triple, while Tortora, DesRochers and sophomore Alyssa McKinnon (Raynham, Mass.) each knocked in a run with base hits. Regis capped the game with six runs in the fifth, led by DesRochers, Tortora and McKinnon again.

Cuozzo picked up her first victory of the season from the pitching circle for the Pride, allowing just one hit, while striking out three in three innings to improve to 1-3 on the year, before Bliss threw the final two scoreless innings, yielding just a single and a walk. Freshman Maggie Doyle (Kingston, Mass.) suffered the loss for the Wildcats, allowing 12 runs (eight earned) on 12 hits and a walk, while fanning one in four innings of action to fall to 0-2 on the season.

Freshman center fielder Vanessa Valenti (Woodstock, Conn.) and sophomore Kiersten Cosgrove (Pequannock, N.J.) each singled in two at-bats to lead Wheelock, while Valenti stole her team-leading third base of the season.

A nine-run first and a 10-run fifth were too much for the Wildcats in the second contest as Regis scored 26 times on 23 hits in the game. Cuozzo's two-run double and RBI singles from Tortora and sophomore right fielder Kirby Garvey (Littleton, Mass.) highlighted the opening inning for the Pride.

The Wildcats countered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame when junior first baseman Molly Rose (Weymouth, Mass.) drew a one-out walk and later scored on a single by sophomore shortstop Katie Fleming (West Boylston, Mass.). Cosgrove, who previously reached on a fielder's choice, also scored on the play, courtesy of an error.

The Pride put four more runs on the board in the second, including a two-run double by Garvey, to take a 13-2 lead. Wheelock got a run back in the bottom of the third when Valenti stroked a one-out single and later scored on the back end of a double steal to cut the deficit to 13-3.

Regis put the game away in the fifth when it sent 15 batters to the plate and scored 10 of them, thanks in part to three runs driven in by Tortora on a pair of singles and RBI base knocks from junior Kelsey Heath (Lowell, Mass.), DesRochers and Cuozzo and a run-scoring double off the bat of freshman catcher Alexis Charest (Chatham, Mass.).

Sophomore Marissa Magarian (Goffstown, N.H.) (1-0) earned the complete game victory for the Pride, allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits and three walks, while striking out four in five innings of work. Freshman Erin Rice (Windsor, Vt.) (0-1) took the loss for Wheelock, yielding 19 runs (14 earned) on 18 hits and five walks in three and a third innings of work.

Nine players knocked in multiple runs on the day for the Pride, including Bliss, who was 5-10 with five RBI and seven runs scored, and Garvey, who drove in four on five hits, including a double.

Sophomore Cassandra Highbridge (Meriden, Conn.) rapped out the first two hits of her collegiate career for the Wildcats in the second game, while Fleming was 2-3 with a run batted in.

Wheelock will be in action again on Saturday, April 5 when they travel to Bennington, Vt. for a NECC twinbill at Southern Vermont College at 1:00 p.m., while Regis heads to Chestnut Hill tomorrow to take on NECC foe Newbury College for a 3:30 p.m. doubleheader on the campus of Pine Manor College.

Release courtesy of Wheelock Sports Information