MILTON, Mass. - The Curry College softball team swept a non-conference doubleheader with Newbury College Thursday afternoon at D. Forbes Will Field. The Colonels improve to 9-5 on the season while the Nighthawks fall to 7-8-1 overall.
Game One
The first game was a high-scoring affair with two runs coming across in the top of the first inning on a wild pitch for Newbury to jump out to an early 2-0 lead.
Curry responded big in the next half inning, putting up ten runs on RBI hits from sophomores Mikayla Lambert (Blackstone, Mass.), Rachel Byrd (Hampstead, N.H.) and Carolyn Lynch (Ipswich, Mass.) as well as senior Amy Nolan (Norfolk, Mass.) to put the score at 6-2.
Sophomore April Adams (Burlington, Mass.) followed by reaching on an error before junior Mikayla Korona (Bellingham, Mass.) cleared the bases with a three-run homerun to put the score at 10-2 after one full.
Nolan added another run in the bottom of the second by scoring on a pass ball to further the Colonels' lead.
The Nighthawks came out in the top of the third and got six runs back on seven hits in the inning, loading the bases twice in order to cut the lead to 11-8.
Curry would in turn put up seven more runs in the following half inning, four of which came on one Grand Slam swing from Nolan, adding to their lead and putting the score at 18-8 after three full.
Newbury came out in the next half inning and loaded the bases, scoring on a pass ball and a walk before a two RBI single off the bat of senior Cheri Liggiero (Tewksbury, Mass.) to cut the lead to 18-12.
Lynch and Nolan both added RBI's in the bottom of the fourth to put the lead up to 20-12 after four full.
Junior Liz Kia (Kea' au, Hawaii) got both runs back on a two RBI double in the next half inning, but half of it was erased in the following half inning with Byrd smacking a homerun to put the score at the eventual final of 21-14.
Junior McKenna Barlow (Middletown, R.I.) earned the win for the Colonels, hurling four full innings allowing six runs, five of them earned, on five hits while striking out a batter. Freshman Alina Milauskas (Elkridge, Md.) was pinned with the loss in her start, finishing two innings, allowing 17 runs, 15 earned, on 14 hits.
Game Two
The second game started a little slower, with only five runs being scored in the inning, all in the bottom half for the Colonels. Lambert, Byrd, Nolan and Adams all recorded RBI's as well as sophomore starting pitcher Jordan Lizotte (Rehoboth, Mass.) to hold a five run lead after the first frame.
Junior Marissa Bruno (Milford, Conn.) joined the hitting parade in the second inning, hitting a two run homerun to inflate the lead to 7-0 after two full.
Korona, Lambert and Bruno added insurance, all registering RBI's, in the bottom of the third to put the lead at 10-0 after three innings of play.
Korona again walked in a run and Lambert reached on a fielder's choice to add two more runs for Curry in the fourth inning putting the score at 12-0.
The Nighthawks began to threaten in their last inning, trying to squander the Mercy opportunity for the Colonels. Freshman Tina Babcock (Ayer, Mass.) along with Milauskas and Kia recorded RBI's to plate three runs for Newbury but it wouldn't be enough to force another inning of play and Curry earned the 12-4 victory.
Lizotte got the win, going all five innings allowing the three unearned runs to score on five hits while recording a pair of strikeouts. Milauskas got pinned with the loss taking credit for all 12 earned runs on 14 hits on the other side of the field.
Both teams return to action in a home conference doubleheader Saturday afternoon with the Colonels hosting Wentworth Institute of Technology starting at 1 p.m. while the Nighthawks will host Elms College starting at 2 p.m.
By: Cole McNanna
