Sprague's No-Hitter Leads Endicott to Double-Header Sweep of Gordon

Beverly, Mass. – Cameron Sprague (Clifton Park, N.Y.) tossed a no-hitter and Endicott shut out Gordon twice in a sweep of a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) softball doubleheader Tuesday afternoon at Endicott Softball Complex.

The Gulls won the first game 11-0 in five innings and then won 8-0 in six innings in game two to improve their CCC record to 6-0 and improve their all-time record against Gordon to 22-0.

The Gulls improve to 6-10 with the two victories, while the Fighting Scots slip to 7-14, and 2-8 in the CCC.

Game One: Endicott 11, Gordon 0 (5 inn.)

Endicott junior shortstop Kelley Michael (Ipswich, Mass.) drove in three runs as part of a 2-for-2 day at the plate and junior pitcher Nell O'Connor (Harwich, Mass.) pitched her third shutout of the season as the Blue and Green defeated Gordon in game one of their CCC doubleheader.

Michael blooped a RBI single to left in the first inning and cracked a sharp single over the shortstop's glove to plate two more runners one inning later.  The Gulls also got RBI doubles by senior right fielder Byrne Katz (Trumbull, Conn.) and freshman third baseman Sam DiBella (Danvers, Mass.) in the bottom of the first as Endicott jumped out to a 5-0 lead.  Katz' rope to left center rolled all the way to the wall to bring home runners from first and second base.

In the circle for Endicott, O'Connor increased her scoreless innings streak to 23 1/3 innings with five shutout frames against the Scots.  She allowed just two hits and three walks while striking out four to improve to 3-2 on the season. 

Endicott seniors Jocelyn Russo (Middletown, Conn.) and Colleen Martin (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) both scored two runs in the game with Martin adding a RBI single in the second.  Freshman outfielder Emily Hoffman (Malden, Mass.) hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Amanda Campbell (Billerica, Mass.) to cap the scoring in the bottom of the fourth.

Game Two: Endicott 8, Gordon 0 (6 inn.)

Sprague tossed six innings of no-hit softball and struck out nine batters while collecting her first victory of the season. She did not allow a walk, and came one error away from pitching a perfect game.

The Gulls scored single runs in each of the first two innings and struck for a pair of runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth, ending the game when DiBella hit a deep home-run to dead center field, scoring Katz, who, like DiBella, had two hits in the game.

Five different players had multiple base-hits for the Gulls, who collected 11 knocks as a team. Freshman Jamie Corda (Higganum, Conn.) was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored. She delivered a run-scoring single in the second inning and an RBI double to left field in the fourth, both of which scored center fielder Alexandra Moise (North Reading, Mass.).

Michael started the scoring with a single to third base with the bases loaded in the bottom of the first. Jesse Bilafer (Concord, Mass.) added an RBI sacrifice fly in the fourth and Campbell scored on a wild pitch in the fifth before Moise plated DiBella with a bunt single.

Junior pitcher Kelly Beardslee (Thomaston, Conn.) fell to 3-7 on the season after allowing six earned runs on nine hits and four walks, while collecting two strikeouts.

The Gulls will travel to Wellesley tomorrow afternoon for a non-conference double-header starting at 3:00 pm.

Gordon will play another installment of the North Shore Cup on Thursday afternoon when they travel to Salem State for a twin-bill beginning at 4:00 pm.