Gulls fall to Cougars in rematch, shutout Red Hawks
Kissimmee, Fla. – Two days after defeating Kean University 6-4, the Endicott College softball team dropped a 6-5 decision to the Cougars in game one of Wednesday’s double-header. The Gulls bounced back with a 2-0 victory over Montclair State in game two, moving their overall record to 5-3 on the year.
Game One Recap: Endicott 5, Kean 6
Game One Boxscore
Kean jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead through the first two innings and never surrendered the advantage the rest of the way. The Cougars put at least one run on the board in each of the first four innings before the Endicott offense got going.
Trailing 3-0 in the bottom of the second inning, Endicott’s Jocelyn Russo (Middletown, Conn.) drove home Byrne Katz (Trumbull, Conn.), who had singled earlier in the inning, to cut the deficit to two.
The Cougars added one run in the top of the third and two more an inning later to take a 6-1 lead.
Endicott responded with a two-out rally in the fourth inning, scoring three runs on two hits to close the gap to just two. Nicole Devlin (Dudley, Mass.) led off the inning with a single but two straight outs threatened to put the end to the rally before it even started. Jesse Bilafer (Concord, Mass.) singled to left field and then stole second base before Russo cleared the bases and scored herself thanks a pair of Kean errors.
The Gulls trimmed the lead to one in the bottom of the sixth inning after Bilafer’s RBI double scored Mattie Brett (Waterford, Conn.) from first base.
Endicott looked poised to snatch another from Kean in the bottom of the seventh inning when it put two runners on with just one out. Kim Prevedel (Saddle Brook, N.J.), who went the distance in the win, retired the next two batters to derail the possibility of any late game heroics.
Freshman Jennie Lacolla (Stoneham, Mass.) took the loss, giving up six runs (four earned) in three and a third innings. Classmate Nell O’Connor (Harwich, Mass.) came on in relief and shut down the Cougars.
Russo finished with one RBI at the plate and a team-high nine assists from third base. Bilafer finished 3-for-3 at the dish with an RBI and a run scored in the loss.
Game Two Recap: Endicott 2, Montclair State 0
Game Two Boxscore
Senior pitcher Jenna Bortolotti (Milton, Mass.) threw a complete game shutout as Endicott blanked Montclair State in game two. Bortolotti picked up her first win of the season after giving up five hits and striking out three in seven innings of work.
The Gulls scored twice in the second inning, providing the only offense Bortolotti would need to secure the win. Jesse Bilafer (Concord, Mass.) and Mattie Brett (Waterford, Conn.) both scored on an error by the Red Hawks’ centerfielder.
Montclair State threatened to rally in the bottom of the seventh when it put runners on first and second with two outs, but Bortolotti got the final batter to fly out to right field and end the game.
Endicott plays its final two games of the spring trip on Thursday (March 17) when it takes on Framingham State (3:00 pm) and Anderson (5:00 pm).