NEW LONDON, Conn.- The Becker College softball team overcame 2-0 loss to Elms College in the opening round of the New England Collegiate Conference softball Tournament by knocking out top seeded Mitchell College 3-2 in 11 innings. The Hawks will now play Newbury College at 12:00 p.m. for the right to play Elms in the NECC Championship.
In the Hawks first game of the day, Bethany Grimes (Terryville, Conn./Terryville) turned in a stellar pitching performance in the second game to lead Elms past Becker. She surrendered only two hits and struck out nine batters over 7.0 innings while issuing only two walks.
Elms got off to a good start offensively as Kierstan Skinner (South Windsor, Conn./South Windsor) led off the first inning with a bullet over the left-center fence for a quick 1-0 lead. The home run was her third of the season.
Rachel Beery (Springfield, Mass./Cathedral) doubled in the third as the Blazers threatened again. She moved to third on a sacrifice bunt but got no further as Becker starter Kelsey Norberg (Uxbridge, Mass./Uxbridge) struck out the next batter to get out of the jam.
Elms tacked on another run in the fifth to go up 2-0. Skinner got things started with a stand-up double to left-center and scored on a two-out single to left by Grimes.
Grimes took a no hitter into the sixth inning but lost it when pinch hitter Magdalena Aguirre (New York, N.Y./Saint Francis) singled back up the middle. The Hawks then put runners at the corners with two outs following an infield single by Jessica Wheelahan (Watertown, Conn./Watertown), but Grimes fielded a comebacker and threw to first to end the threat.
Skinner and Kacey Gifford (Suffield, Conn./Suffield) finished with two hits apiece to pace the Elms offense.
Norberg allowed two runs on seven hits in 6.0 innings and struck out six.
The Hawks then took on top seeded Mitchell College in the losers bracket.
With both teams fighting to stay alive and reach the second day of the Championship, it was Becker that outlasted Mitchell in an 11-inning showdown. Jessica Brochu (Hardwick, Vt./Hazen Union) knocked in the winning run in the 11th to end the longest game in NECC postseason history.
Neither team took advantage of runners in scoring position in the first inning. DelConte led off with a double for the Mariners but later got doubled up while trying to take third base on a ground out. In the home half of the frame, a two-out double by Becker's Megan Bolduc (Dover, N.H./Dover) went to waste as Fiederlein got a ground out to third to keep the game scoreless.
The Hawks got on the scoreboard in the third on the strength of back-to-back two-out hits from Wheelahan and Bolduc. Wheelahan got things started with a single through the right side of the infield and scored from first base on Bolduc's second double of the contest.
Becker had a scoring chance in the fifth after Jaclyn Orangio (Maynard, Mass./Assabet Valley) reached on a bunt single and promptly stole second. Fiederlein once again worked her way out of trouble, getting a foul out and strikeout to keep the deficit at one.
The Hawks rallied with one out in the sixth to add to the lead. Rebecca Carkhuff (Amherst, Mass./Amherst) and Aguirre each singled before a Mitchell fielding error allowed a run to come home. Becker then loaded the bases before Fiederlein limited the damage by getting a pair of big strikeouts to end the frame.
Down to their final three outs, the Mariners pushed across two runs in the top of the seventh to extend the game. Dylan Riccardi (Elmont, N.Y./Sewanhaka) and O'Neil each singled to start the rally and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt. Danielle Autieri (North Salem, N.Y./John Jay) plated the first run on a fly ball that dropped in right-center field, and Berkman tied the game with a slap hit over the third baseman that was nearly snagged by a diving Bolduc.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Hawks put the winning run on second base but couldn't come up with the big hit. It was a similar story in the 10th when Becker put two on with no outs but came up empty again. However, Brochu changed the narrative in the 11th when she came to the plate with the bases loaded and hit a ground ball to the shortstop. The speedy Orangio beat the throw to the plate to score the final run as the Hawks walked off with the win.
Norberg (12-11 overall) gave up two runs on seven hits and struck out one in 11.0 innings of work. Fiederlein (15-9 overall) allowed three runs (one earned) on 11 hits and struck out 11 in 10.0 innings. She logged a total of 19.0 innings on the day for the Mariners.
