AUBURNDALE, MASS. – Strong pitching and timely offense was the name of the game, as the Suffolk softball team took a pair of games from Lasell, 8-0 (in six innings), and 13-6, Saturday in a GNAC doubleheader at Taylor Field.
The wins are Suffolk's second and third in GNAC play, moving the Rams to 3-1 in the league and 12-4 overall. Lasell dips with the results at 3-11 on the season and winless (0-4) against conference competition.
It didn't take long for Suffolk to get on the board in Game 1 as the Rams grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Following a Elissa Mogauro ground out to Ashley Gatchell, Devlin Frost got on by an error the Lasers' left fielder Erin Larghi and advanced to third. With Frost in scoring position, Madison Eucalitto laid out a sacrifice fly to get the scoring going and give Suffolk a 1-0 lead.
A scoreless third followed, but the Rams would not stay quiet for long as they brought in one run in the top of the fourth. Similar to its first scoring inning, Mogauro grounded out to lead off. Frost followed with a double and Eucalitto recorded her second RBI of the day with a single up the middle to plate Frost once again and move the score to 2-0.
Suffolk put the game away with a six-run sixth inning. Its as if Mogauro's ground out led to scoring plays as the sophomore hit to the pitcher once again to open the inning. Frost would cross the plate for the third time in one contest when the sophomore hit a jack over the right field fence, her second of the season and fifth of her career. With Lindsay Pagano and Eucalitto on second and third, respectively, Evelyn Marquis brought the score to 4-0 with a single to left field. Lasell adjusted its defense with substitutions and a pitching change as Lydia Lewis-Hicks took over for Gatchell, but the Rams turned on their engines even more. An error that placed Meredith Ball on first loaded the bases and a successful bunt by Sydney Littlefield scored Marquis, before Delaney Sylvester's single up the middle brought in both McKenzie McGrath and Ball. In her second at-bat of the inning and fourth of the day, Mogauro finally got on base with an RBI single to complete the scoring.
Suffolk's defense end the game as a ground out to third baseman McGrath sealed the 8-0 clean sheet for the Rams. Ali Yamakaitis was in cruise control in the circle through the entire six-inning game, keeping the Lasers quiet. The sophomore twirler threw a 1-hit, shutout, the second of her career and Suffolk's second of the season. She struck out five along the way to her fourth victory of the season.
Similar to Game 1, the Rams did not waste time in the closer, plating two runs in the top of the first. Ball and Flint each reached on an error and Ball took advantage of Emily DeAngelis' mistake on Flints run to bring in the first run of the contest. A powerful at-bat from Sylvester ended with the sophomore driving a double to left field, allowing Flint to round the bases for the game's second run.
Suffolk struck again in the third, with a walk by Sylvester to lead off the inning. Jill Pulek followed with a triple up the middle that scored Sylvester. A ground-rule double by Frost scored Pulek, before a Morgan Parmeter ground out advanced Frost to third. Pagano took the sacrifice fly to bring in Forst and give Suffolk a 5-0 advantage.
Lasell made multiple line-up changes before they headed to the dish in the third and the fresh legs helped their causes with the Lasers registering three runs to cut Suffolk's lead to one.
Ball and Sylvester contributed RBIs in a two-run fourth inning for the Rams that pushed their lead to 7-3. A three-run sixth stretched the blue-and-gold's lead even more, 10-4. Lasell was able to bring in one-run in the sixth, but the Rams responded with its second three-run inning to burst ahead 13-5. The Lasers would go on to score once more, but would not get any closer as once again the Rams' defense locked up the win, 13-6.
Taylor Holmes was efficient in the circle, allowing just four runs on three hits and striking out two. Kim Crucioli tossed three innings of relief, giving up three hits, one run and punching out four, with Flint earning her first save of the season inside the circle with 1.2 innings of work, one hit, one run and one K.
Suffolk is back at it Tuesday, April 12 when it travels to Norwich for a two-game series with the Cadets beginning at 3 p.m.