High Powered Offense Leads Softball to Pair of Wins

FRANKLIN, Mass. - A high offensive output led Regis College to sweep Dean College in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) softball doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Longley Athletic Complex.

GAMED ONE: Regis 7, Dean 6

Ciara Collins (Lynn, Mass.) led off the second inning with a triple, setting up Chloe Beland (Southborough, Mass.), who earned an RBI off a sacrifice fly to give the Pride a 1-0 lead.

Bianca Burke (Cambridge, Mass.) walked and stole second in the following inning to put a runner in scoring position for Andria Braga (Rehoboth, Mass.), who hit an RBI single to add to the Regis lead. A double by Diana Petrarca (Coventry, R.I.) on the ensuing at-bat scored another run and put the Pride up, 3-0.

After another run scored on an RBI fielder's choice by Collins in the top of the fifth, the Pride offense would continue to add to the lead in the top of the sixth when, with runners at first and third, Madi Zancan (Cumberland, R.I.) put the ball in play and forced an error at shortstop to score another run. Regis scored twice more in the inning off a single by Braga which drove in Beland and Zancan.

Dean scored four times in the bottom of the sixth including RBI singles by Jilian Glynn and Sarah Graeff, an RBI by Jaylee Martinez, and an RBI double by Meredith Landers to cut the Regis lead to three (7-4). A two-run home run by Sari Albury in the bottom of the seventh cut the lead to just one run before a ground out ended the game.

Colby Butterfield (Gilford, N.H.) pitched six innings in the win for the Pride, accumulating six strikeouts and only two earned runs, while Alyssa Ward (Webster, Mass.) pitched one inning in relief.

GAME TWO: Regis 15, Dean 1

The Pride accumulated 19 total hits, including a pair of home runs by Lexi Nichols (Granby, Conn.) and a two-run shot by Pertrarca, on their way to a run-rule victory over the Bulldogs in game two of the doubleheader.

Regis wasted no time getting on the board with Braga hitting an RBI double in the top of the first inning to score Burke from first base and later scoring herself on a wild pitch. A double by Zancan scored another run to give the Pride a 3-0 lead.

Nichols hit her first home run, a solo shot with one out in the top of the second inning, to add to the Pride's lead before Petrarca hit a two-run homer later in the second to increase the lead to six (6-0).

A sacrifice fly by Zancan scored another run in the top of the third before a double by Collins scored a pair of runs in the fourth. An RBI single by Beland scored another run to put the Pride on top, 10-1.

Regis scored five insurance runs in the fifth inning including a two-run homer by Nichols, an RBI single by Beland, and an RBI single by Zancan which drove in two runs.

Petrarca earned the win, pitching all five innings for the Pride while striking out four batters and allowing only one earned run off Albury's second home run of the doubleheader.

Regis College (10-14, 2-2 GNAC) begins a six-game home stretch with a doubleheader against Johnson & Wales on Sunday, April 16, with the first pitch of game one scheduled for 2 p.m.