Eagles Outslasted By Path Path In Marathon Slugfests
Nashua, NH – In back-to-back slugfests that featured the longest home game in Daniel Webster softball history, Bay Path College outlasted the Eagles 16-15 in 11 innings and added a 9-8 victory in the nightcap for an exhaustive New England Collegiate Conference sweep at Eagle Field.
Sarah Gates (Crown Point, Ind.) led the Wildcats (17-17, 6-6 NECC) going 6 for 9 on the day, knocking in seven and scoring five times, while Katie Begin (Weare, N.H.) went 6 for 10 knocking in three. Meaghan Whitcomb (Lyndonville, Vt.) added two doubles and knocked in six.
Chelsey Crawford (Westfield, Mass.) led the Eagles (9-14, 4-6 NECC) going 6 for 10 with a home run, a double and five RBI. Erin Hurd (Centerville, Mass.) was 5 for 10 over the two games while Julie Medeiros (Derry, N.H.) and Amy Waller (Berlin, Mass.) had four hits each and knocked in two apiece.
Jess Nizinksi (W. Springfield, Mass.) earned both complete game wins on the mound for Bay Path. Nizinski (9-11) went 18 total innings allowing 15 earned runs.
In the opener, the teams combined for 39 total hits and were tied at seven after seven innings. The teams then matched each other with three in the eighth, three in the ninth and one in the 10th before Pay Path scored twice in the 11th and held the Eagles to one in the bottom of the inning ending a game that went an Eagle Field record three hours and four minutes.
Gates was 4 for 5 in the opener for Bay Path knocking in four, while Whitcomb knocked in five – including the eventual game-winner with a double in the 11th - and Begin was 4 for 6 knocking in one. Gunseth scored five times.
Crawford was 4 for 6 for DWC, knocking in four including a solo in-the-park round tripper in the fifth for her second of the season. Waller, Kristina Rieger (Concord, N.H.), Medeiros, Melissa Kelly (Hill, N.H.) and Hurd all had three hits.
Lauren Chesnulevich (Hudson, N.H.) took the loss (4-7) for the Eagles.
In the nightcap that went the regulation seven innings, Begin delivered the big blow with a two-run double in the top of the seventh sparking a four-run rally as the Wildcats came back from an 8-5 deficit to post the 9-8 victory.
Begin would finish with two hits and two RBI while Gates added two hits including a two-run double in the fourth and added a run scoring single in the seventh. Gunseth added two hits including a double.
Amanda Varricchio (Middletown, Conn.) knocked in two runs for the Eagles include a RBI triple in the third in which she would score on the play thanks to an error. Lyndze Priebe (Raymond, N.H.) went 3 for 4 with two doubles and scored three times, while Hurd added two hits and knocked in one.
Nizinski allowed four earned runs on 11 hits for Bay Path, walking one.
Rieger (5-5) took the loss for DWC.
Tied at five, the Eagles forged ahead with three in the bottom of the sixth as Varrichio drew a bases-loaded walk, Rieger added a sac fly to score Hurd, and Crawford singled home Waller before Bay Path's late rally.
