WENHAM, Mass. — Megan Flaherty (Jr./Medway, Mass.) went 6-for-10 with six RBI, including two home runs, to help boost the Colonels of Curry College to a pair of wins over Gordon College’s Fighting Scots in this afternoon’s Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) softball doubleheader. With the pair of wins the Colonels move to 22-16 overall and 9-9 in the CCC, while Gordon falls to 11-22 and 4-14, respectively.
Curry came out of the gates in the first inning with hot bats as singles from Flaherty and Amy Nolan (Fr./Norfolk, Mass.) set up Ariel LaRosa (So./Saugus, Mass.) to bring in the Colonels' first two runs with a double to center field.
The Scots matched Curry in the bottom of the same inning with sophomore Rachel Ryder (Telford, Pa.) beginning the game with a double and scoring on a single from Marissa Meenan (Fr./Wayne, Pa.). Meenan would later avoid the tag at home as teammate Kara Pepper (So./Wyckoff, N.J.) laid down a squeeze bunt up the third base line to set the score at an even 2-2.
Curry then went back on the offensive with a two-run shot to left center field from Heather Carrier (Jr./Scarborough, Maine) in the second followed by a matching hit for Flaherty’s first home run of the day in the top of the fourth, giving the Colonels a 6-3 advantage.
The Scots were not ready to cede the game though, with clutch hits coming from co-captains Kendall Bukuras (Jr./North Falmouth, Mass.) and Skylar Bareford (Jr./Stonington, Conn.) late in the game. Bukuras hit a two-run home run in the fifth to narrow the gap to one run. Gordon headed into the bottom of the seventh, trailing to their guests, when a first-pitch single from Ryder notched her fourth hit in as many tries in the game. Meenan moved her to second with a sacrifice bunt, to put her in position to score on a Bareford single that sent the game into an extra inning.
RBI doubles from LaRosa and Mikaela Carney (Sr./North Reading, Mass.) gave Curry the two-run advantage, that helped the Colonels to an 8-7 win, closing out the game after allowing a single run in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Game two proved to be yet another thriller with Flaherty and LaRosa shining in Curry’s victory. After taking the 2-0 lead in the second, an error-plagued third inning for the Colonels allowed the Scots to gain a 5-2 advantage.
From there though, Curry would buckle down on defense and halt the Scots’ scoring, while adding four runs to their cause, including a three-run home run from Flaherty in the top of the sixth. LaRosa and Taryn Vigeant (Jr./Terryville, Conn.) went 3-for-4 in game two, while Paige Smigiel (Jr./Versailles, Conn.) was a perfect 2-for-2.
For the Scots freshman Alyssa Unumb (Bedford, Mass.) had two hits on three at-bats, while Ryder recorded her fifth hit of the day. In game two Ryder also tallied two stolen bases, with Meenan recording three of her four.
The Scots host Fisher College for their final regular season doubleheader on Wednesday, April 24 at 3:30p.m. as Curry awaits conference tournament pairings. (Recap courtesy of Gordon Sports Information)
