BOSTON, Mass. — Behind a solid outing in the circle from freshman Kaera Wyse, UMass Boston softball (2-11) snapped its 10-game losing streak with a 2-0 victory over Curry College (5-8) in Wednesday's home opener.
Wyse struck out 11 batters and allowed just three hits, five walks and no runs over seven innings, to earn her first collegiate victory.
With the temperature falling and the rain and ice coming down harder, game two was called after 1.5 innings, with the Beacons leading Curry 1-0.
While Wyse was dealing in the circle, sophomore first baseman Lauren Mitsiaris provided all the offense her pitcher would need. Mitsiaris sent a softly-hit single over the shortstop's head into short left field to plate two runs in the bottom half of the first, for the only runs of the contest.
Sophomore Gia Raczkowsi led the Beacons with two hits and a run scored, while seniors Samantha Hemstock and Lyndsey Capra added a hit apiece.
Marissa Bruno, Carolyn Lynch and Mikayla Corona each had a single hit for the Colonels, who dropped their third-straight contest.
In the circle, Taylor Ahearn was the hard-luck loser, after allowing five hits and two earned runs over six innings of work.
After Wyse struck out the side in the top of the first inning, UMass Boston struck for both runs in the bottom of the first.
With two down and no one, Raczkowski lined a hard drive off the third baseman's glove and legged out a double. Raczkowski moved up to third on a passed ball, and Hemstock followed with a walk and a stolen base to put two runners in scoring position for Mitsiaris.
The first baseman came through with a soft fly that easily plated both runners and reached second on the throw. She easily could have scored on the next hit, but Kirsten Morrison's hard liner to left was tracked down by the left fielder.
UMass Boston threated again in the bottom of the second, but Kaitlyn Morse's liner was snagged by the third baseman with Capra standing on third.
Curry put three runners on base in the top of the third, but Raczkowski threw out a runner trying to steal second and Wyse struck out Ariel LaRosa with runners on the corners and two down.
Wyse's defense came up big in the sixth inning, as Hemstock started a 4-6-3 double play with no outs and a runner on first to help Wyse who looked like she was starting to slow.
From there, Wyse struck out two of the next four batters and induced a pair of groundouts, to close out the best performance of her young collegiate career.
Freshman Morgan Bishop made her collegaite debut in the contest and went 0-for-2. In game two, Morse gave UMass Boston a 1-0 advantage, when she came all the way into score from second base on a bunt single from Haley Dutton. The stats from the contest don't count though, as the game was called before it could become an official contest. (Recap courtesy of UMB Sports Information)
