'NORTH DARTMOUTH, MA-Keene State got 12 hits in the opener and
Ashlee Nicholson (Keene, N.H.) pitched a one-hitter in the nightcap
as the Owls swept a Little East Conference doubleheader from the
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's softball team, 11-3 and
10-0 (six innings), at the UMass Dartmouth Athletic Complex
Saturday afternoon.
Second baseman Jessica Starkey's (Keene, N.H.) run-scoring
single keyed a two-run first inning in the opener, and first
baseman Kaity Conklin's (Selkirk, N.Y.) two-run single made it 5-0
in the third.
Starkey doubled in a run in a two-run KSC fourth to make it
7-2. Katie Allenson (Clifton Park, N.Y.) clouted a three-run
home run, her third of the season in the sixth. Jenna Patnode
(Surry, N.H.), Mo Scata (Medway, Mass.), Allenson and Strakey
finished the game with two hits each.
Erin Fuoroli (Warwick, R.I.) went all the way and earned the
victory for the Owls, improving to 8-3. Sophomore right hander Amie
Nickerson (Wrentham, MA) took the loss and fell to 4-5.
Only two batters reached base in the second game against Keene
State's Ashlee Nicholson. Sophomore shortstop Vicki Andruszkiewicz
(Danvers, MA) was hit by a pitch leading off the fourth inning, and
sophomore catcher Kathleen L'Abbe (New Bedford, MA) followed with
the Corsairs' only hit. But Nicholson retired the next three
batters, and then retired the side in order in the fifth and sixth
innings, after which the game ended because of the eight-run rule.
Third baseman Patnode (Surry, N.H.) hit a two-run homer for
the Owls in the fourth inning, and catcher Allenson also had a pair
of runs batted in as Keene State totaled 13 hits. Julie May (Deep
River, Conn.), Patnode, Allenson, and Conklin collected two hits
each in the nightcap.
Nicholson, who fanned seven and didn't issue a walk, was the
winning pitcher and improved to 7-0. Freshman Liz Steele
(Braintree, MA) took the loss for the Corsairs and fell to 0-6.
UMass Dartmouth dropped to 4-11 and 2-6 in the Little East
Conference, while KSC improved to 17-3 and 4-2. The Corsairs will
return to action when they visit Johnson & Wales Monday
afternoon in a non-conference doubleheader, while the Owls will
visit Rhode Island College Sunday for a conference doubleheader.
