Nicklas Heminger
Sports Editor
The Rhode Island College Anchorwomen softball team entered the week with a 4-6 record on the season. The Anchorwomen suffered from a slow start to the year, but were coming off their biggest win of the season, a 9-1 victory over Simmons University. RIC traveled to Jonhson and Wales for a double-header with the Wildcats, before hosting a double-header with Little East Conference opponent Plymouth State.
The Anchorwomen started action for the week against JWU in their double-header. RIC struck first as a Cassidy Schoen solo homerun put the Anchorwomen up 1-0. RIC held the 1-0 lead until the bottom of the fifth inning, when a JWU sacrifice fly plated a run to knot the game at 1-1. The Anchorwomen had an opportunity to take the lead again in the top of the seventh inning, but left the runner stranded on base. RIC looked to force extra innings and got the first JWU batter out to start the bottom of the seventh inning.
A RIC error allowed JWU to get the winning runner on base. JWU then doubled and singled to score the run and capitalize on the Anchorwomen’s error. JWU took game one 2-1. Abby Kidd took her third loss on the season, pitching six and one third innings. Kidd struck out five batters, allowing six hits and one earned run.
Game two started differently than the first, as JWU plated the first run of the game on a fielder’s choice in the bottom of inning one. The Anchorwomen took the lead in the third inning, when Avery Katz scored on a Katelyn Ashe ground out to tie the game at one. Alexis Boyce homered later in the third inning, scoring two and giving the Anchorwomen a 3-1 lead. RIC expanded their lead to 4-1 in the top of the fourth, thanks to a Noelle Simmons single that scored one. JWU answered back in the bottom of the fourth, scoring twice on a fielder’s choice and a solo homerun to make it a 4-3 ballgame.
RIC made it a 5-3 game in the top of the seventh, after an Ashe single plated Simmons. The Wildcats didn’t want to go down quietly, as a bases-loaded hit by pitch allowed in the bottom of the seventh made it a one run game. JWU followed the hit-by-pitch with a sac fly to tie the game and send it to extra innings.
Victoria Young doubled, scoring one, to give RIC the lead once again in the top of the eighth inning. The Anchorwomen held a 6-5 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth and needed just three outs to leave with the hard-fought win. The Wildcats had other ideas, as they doubled on the first at-bat of the eighth to tie the game up, then an error plated the winning run for the Wildcats.
JWU swept the double-header by a final of 7-6. Gabby Cunha started for the Anchorwomen, going five innings with seven hits, two earned runs and three strikeouts. Kidd took the loss in the game, going two innings and giving up two earned runs on three hits while striking out two.
The Anchorwomen opened LEC play on Sunday as they hosted Plymouth State for a double-header. The games were the first LEC competition for either team.
The Anchorwomen opened the scoring, scoring twice in the bottom of the first inning. Boyce dropped down a bunt that scored Katz to give RIC a 1-0 lead, before Ashe singled and drove in Simmons to push the lead to 2-0. RIC struck again in the bottom of the second, as Boyce doubled to left and scored two and Kidd singled to score another run. RIC held a 5-0 lead heading into the third inning, when Plymouth scored two on a double to right to cut the RIC lead to three. Plymouth scored in the top of the fifth inning on a single to make it a 5-3 ballgame.
The Anchorwomen shut out the Panthers over the next two innings to secure the win. The Anchorwomen scored three more times in the game, with Katz singling to score a run in the fifth inning and Schoen hitting a two-run homer in the sixth inning. RIC took game one by a final of 8-3. Kidd picked up her fourth win of the season, pitching seven innings and allowing three runs on nine hits while striking out 12.
Game two of the double-header was a dominant display of pitching by both teams, as the first run of the game did not come until the top of the sixth inning. Plymouth scored twice in the top of the sixth inning on a single down the left field line. The Anchorwomen scored in the bottom of the sixth on a fielder’s choice to make it a 2-1 game. RIC held Plymouth from scoring in the top of the seventh inning, but failed to score in the bottom of the seventh to keep the game alive.
The Anchorwomen fell 2-1 in the second game of the double header. Sam Bergantino suffered her fifth loss on the season, going seven innings with two earned runs on seven hits and seven strikeouts.
The Anchorwomen play next on Wednesday against the Bridgewater State Bears.
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