Gulls Take Two from New England College
April 11, 2007
BEVERLY, MA - Jenn Elwell (Tewksbury, MA/Shawsheen Tech.) drove in two runs, earned a win and a save as she helped secure a pair of wins over Commonwealth Conference foe New England College in a Wednesday afternoon double-header.
The Gulls captured game one of the twin bill, 6-5 in extra innings after neither team could put the other away in the seven scheduled innings. Endicott took a 6-2 lead into the bottom of the eight inning but NEC took advantage of having a runner placed in scoring position to start the extra innings and scored three runs cutting the Gulls advantage to one.
Robyn Savitske (Hellertown, PA/Saucon Valley) pitched a solid 7.1 innings allowing four earned runs while striking out 11 but started to run out of gas late as she surrendered three runs in the eighth. Endicott brought in Elwell from the bullpen but the Pilgrims loaded the bases with one out and playing as the home team looked to be poised for a walk off win.
Ewell then got Angeligue Abare (Corinth, NY/Corinth Central) to hit a weak grounder to first that Maria Mangine (Lockport, NY/Lockport) threw to catcher Meghan Sargent (Salisbury, MA/Triton) who made a sprawling grab at the plate starting an improbable 3-2-5 double play to end the game, giving EC the 6-5 win.
The Gulls fell behind early after Alexandria Sacco (Tewksbury, MA/Tewksbury) homered to left in the first inning putting the Pilgrims up 1-0 after one. The score remained 1-0 until the top of the sixth inning when Meghan Sargent hit a two out home run to tie the score going into the final frame. The Gulls took their first lead of the game in the seventh as Casey Shanley (Billerica, MA/Billerica) tripled and scored on a passed ball.
New England College answered in the bottom of the inning with a Kristen Purdy (Candia, NH/Manchester Central) lead off home run, tying the game and eventually sending it into extra innings.
Savitske (4-3) earned the win after going 7.1 strong innings for EC giving up eight hits and four earned runs while walking three and striking out 11. Elwell went two-thirds of an inning, surrendering one hit and one walk but with help from some heads up defense got EC out of a big jam to earn the save.
Jenn Elwell (4-1) returned to the circle in game two going six innings allowing one run on three hits while striking out five to lead Endicott to a 9-1 win in six innings. Elwell not only pitched well in game two but she helped her own cause at the plate going 1-for-2 with a sacrifice fly and an RBI double.
The Gulls fell behind early again in game two as Sacco singled and scored in the bottom of the first. EC would get the last laugh however as the Gulls put five runs on the board in the fifth inning thanks to RBI singles from Danielle Sargent (Sabuttus, ME/Oak Hill) and Paula McGinn (Lynn, MA/Lynn Classical) as well as a pair of sacrifice flies from Elwell and Jenna Lazar (Milton, MA/Milton) and a passed ball that allowed Sargent to score.
Endicott would add two more runs in the fifth as Rachel Pearson (Gales Ferry, CT/Ledyard) drove in Lazar and Meghan Sargent. The Gulls grabbed two more in the sixth to seal the 9-1 victory.
Danielle and Meghan Sargent both had huge days for EC as Danielle went 4-for-6 with three RBI, three runs scored a walk, a home run and a stolen base, while Meghan went 3-for-6 with three RBI, three runs scored, two round trippers and a walk. Paula McGinn also had a big day going 5-for-7 with a run scored and an RBI.
The Gulls improve to 15-5 overall and 8-2 in the CCC with the win, while NEC falls to 8-12 overall and 7-3 in the conference. EC will take its eight game win streak on the road to Quincy, MA Thursday as the Gulls square off against Eastern Nazarene in a CCC double-header. The first pitch for Thursday's game is scheduled for 3:00 pm.