Game 1 Box Score Game 2 Box Score
NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College softball team opened up NECC play with a doubleheader sweep of Southern Vermont College on Saturday afternoon by final scores of 4-2 and 11-2.
Mitchell (5-5 overall, 2-0 NECC) improved to 4-0 at home on the season. Sophomores Kristina Torres and Marissa Thomas each picked up wins inside the circle for the Mariners. Torres (2-3 overall) pitched the first game and gave up two runs (one earned) on two hits while striking out a season-high 13 batters in seven innings. Thomas (3-2 overall) gave up two runs (both unearned) and scattered seven hits over six innings while punching out five.
In the first game, the Mariners jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning thanks to three fielding errors by the Mountaineers. Mitchell then added runs in the second on groundouts by junior Jen Bordonaro and freshman Meghan Burke to take a four-run lead.
Southern Vermont battled back with two runs in the fourth to cut the deficit in half. Alyssa Davis drove in the first run with a double and came around to score on a Mitchell throwing error.
Despite the rough patch in the fourth, Torres settled down and retired the final 10 batters she faced to lead the Mariners to victory. The two hits were the fewest she had allowed in five appearances this season.
Gabrielle Remillard took the loss in game one, giving up four runs (two earned) on five hits in six innings. She dropped to 0-5 overall on the season.
Mitchell’s bats came alive in the second game for 11 hits, led by a 3-for-4 effort by senior Sara Krolikowski. Classmate Michele Anderson also had a big day at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a triple and a career-high five RBI.
The Mountaineers took a 1-0 lead in the third inning after Kayla Whitman led off with a single, stole second and then scored on a fielding error. The lead was short-lived, however, as the Mariners plated four runs in the bottom of the frame. Sophomore Stacey Suplicki supplied an RBI double while Krolikowski added an RBI single, and Anderson later followed with a single to drive in a pair as Mitchell took a 4-1 lead.
The Mariners added four more runs in the fourth to go up 8-1. Krolikowski got things started with an RBI single, but Anderson provided the big blow with a bases-loaded triple to break the game open.
The teams traded a run in the fifth before Mitchell scored twice in the sixth to end the game due to the eight-run mercy rule. Burke supplied the game-ending double that scored Bordonaro and sophomore Brittany Zaccaria.
Southern Vermont starter Talan Barron allowed 11 runs (seven earned) on 11 hits in 5.2 innings of work. Barron also struck out three while walking six and dropped to 0-2 overall on the season.
Southern Vermont returns to action on Tuesday, April 6 in its home opener against Green Mountain College at 3 p.m.