Softball Drops Doubleheader to Roger Williams Saturday

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College softball team dropped a pair of games to Roger Williams Saturday afternoon at Mitchell/McCoy Field, falling in six innings 9-0 before enduring a 6-5 extra-inning setback in game two.

The Lions slide to 11-19 on the season and 5-9 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference. The Hawks improve to 15-13 overall and 9-3 in league play.

Lauren Weidler (Lansdale, Pa.) notched a pair of hits, two RBIs and one run scored on the day. Emily Gomez (Floral Park, N.Y.) landed two base knocks and drove in one RBI while Lauren Clements (Garrison, Texas) and Payton Fry (Chandler, Ariz.) chipped in with two hits each.

Roger Williams rattled off 11 hits to power its way to a 9-0 victory in six innings.

The visitors captured a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. After Meghan Maliga led off the frame with a double to center, Mikaela Grosso followed with a double to left to drive in Maliga from second base.

Roger Williams added three runs in the third as Taylor Messier homered to centerfield and Haley Ledbetter launched a two-run home run.

The Hawks chalked up five runs in the sixth inning to widen the margin to 9-0. Grosso laced a double to left to drive in Valerie Moran from second. Veronica Alicea followed with a sacrifice fly to left field to plate Maliga from third base. Messier landed a two-run single with the bases loaded to knock in Grosso and Alicia McCauley before Sarah Doe crossed the dish on a wild pitch.

Heidi Gomez (Floral Park, N.Y.) made her third consecutive start in the pitcher's circle and threw three innings and registered three strikeouts. Weidler worked two innings in a relief capacity in her 14th pitching appearance of the season, striking out three.

In game two, Eastern Nazarene jumped out to a 2-0 advantage in the bottom of the first inning. Weidler hammered a two-run home run over the towering left field fence. Kaitlyn Jimenez (Meriden, Conn.) came around to score on Weidler's team-leading fifth homer of the season.

Roger Williams got on the board in the second to cut the deficit in half, 2-1. Sarah Doe knocked in Micaela Pohl with an RBI single to center.

The Lions answered with a run in the home half of the frame to restore their lead to two runs, 3-1. Meghan Stanley (Bedford, Mass.) scored as Jimenez reached base on an error.

The Hawks equalized in the top of the seventh, 3-3, as Messier hit her second home run of the day.

The guests scored three times in the top of the eighth to snag a 6-3 lead as Sigita Ivaska, Juliet Hulme and Pohl all recorded RBIs in the frame.

The home side got a run back in the eighth to slice the gap to 6-4. Emily Gomez plated Tylan Onorato (Wiscassett, Maine) from third with a one-out single to centerfield.

Stanley pitched 3.1 innings and posted two strikeouts in her second start of the season. Weidler tossed 4.2 innings and struck out two batters.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene hosts Lesley in a non-conference twinbill April 19.