BIDDEFORD, Maine – The Western New England College Golden Bears opened play in the 2010 The Commonwealth Coast Conference Softball Championship with a 9-3 victory over Curry College in a double-elimination phase game played in rainy conditions Wednesday afternoon at Claude Dubois Field on the campus of the University of New England.

The third-seeded Golden Bears (23-17-1) were scheduled to play second-seeded UNE after winning the day’s first contest, but that game was postponed until Thursday at 2:30 p.m. The sixth-seeded Colonels (19-20), who now find themselves in the losers’ bracket, will return to action Friday versus an opponent to be determined. That game will be played at Gordon College in Wenham, Mass.

WNEC broke open a scoreless game in the bottom of the fourth. With one out and runners on first and second, Freshman Jeana Longo (Schenectady, N.Y.) laced an opposite-field single to right to score sophomore Sara Barnes (Berkley, Mass.). After a strikeout, the Golden Bears pushed across their second run on a double steal, with senior Christina Farese (Marlborough, Mass.) racing home on the throw to second. Junior Trish Breault (Millville, Mass.) followed with a solid single to center to score Longo.

Western New England extended its lead to 7-0 one inning later. Post had an RBI double, then junior Elyse Gauvin (Swansea, Mass.) added an infield single, which was misplayed, leading to a pair of runs. Longo came home on a wild pitch for the Golden Bears’ fourth tally of the frame.

Curry got on the scoreboard with three runs in the top of the sixth when first-year Amanda Felzmann (Bellingham, Mass.) cleared the bases with a double to the left-center gap. She moved to third as WNEC missed a cutoff relay, but was stranded there when WNEC sophomore Sarah Lempicki (Plantsville, Conn.) struck out freshman Mikaela Carney (North Reading, Mass.) looking.

WNEC tacked on a pair of runs in the home half of the frame, taking advantage of three Colonel errors. Barnes and sophomore Rachel Wyrwa (Methuen, Mass.) each had two hits and combined to score five times to pace the Golden Bears. Lempicki her way around 13 hits to record the win, upping her record to 7-3. She walked two and struck out six.

Senior Kristen Jackman (Stoughton, Mass.) was 4-for-4 to lead Curry offensively. Freshman Marissa Strangie (Rowley, Mass.) chipped in three hits. Junior Janelle Mayo (Worcester, Mass.) took the loss to drop her record to 11-7. Seven of the nine runs she allowed were earned. Mayo issued four walks and fanned two. (Game recap courtesy of UNE Sports Information)

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