EAST BOSTON – Suffolk softball waited until the fifth inning to get its offense going, but that's all the Rams would need to take down Wentworth, 2-1, in the second game of a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) doubleheader Saturday afternoon at East Boston Memorial Park. A pair of late dingers from Ally Cifaratta and Ira Boci factored into the victory. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 4 | Wentworth 1
RECORDS: Suffolk (19-13, 9-3 CCC) | Wentworth (20-10, 8-4 CCC) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
Wentworth put one on the board in the first to force Suffolk to play from behind.  

Kayla DeMedeiros twirling kept Suffolk's bats quiet as she had a no-hitter going into the bottom of the fourth, which allowed the Leopards to cling to their early one-run advantage. 

With two outs, Lily Gustafson worked a walk and Ava Brandow's single through the left side broke up the no-no. Rebecca Zellin followed Brandow's base hit with one of her own to fill the bags. The bases stayed that way as DeMedeiros fanned Boci swinging for the final out of the frame, which kept Wentworth up one.  

The same can't be said for Suffolk's next turn at the dish. Caitlin Murphy knocked a one-out single to center and swiped second to get into scoring position. Jolie Quintana found the near same spot as Murphy for a single to move the runner over, but thanks WIT's centerfielder Alexandra Pina, who misplayed the ball, Murphy coasted in to tie the game and Quintana took second. After Savannah Scripter's long out to right, Cifaratta blasted a two-run bomb to left to push the host ahead, 3-1. 

To start the sixth a Leopard inched into scoring position on a single and wild pitch. Reliever Jenny Jacob, who took over the circle for Kennedy Reyes to start the stanza, handled things from there as she retired the side, all swinging, to keep the two-run edge in the host favor.  

When it was Suffolk's turn at the plate, Boci made up for her forward K from two innings prior with a two-out solo shot to dead center. The catcher's home run extended the edge to three as the game headed to the top of the seventh.  

Jacob returned to her post on the rubber. She put an exclamation point on the triumph with back-to-back punchouts including a backwards K to end the day. 

PITCHERS PICTURE

• Reyes registered the win behind a one-run, five-hit, no-walk, six-strikeout performance over 5.0 innings. 
• Jacob logged the save after throw 2.0 innings of scoreless relief with just one hit allowed and five punchouts. 
• DeMedeiros suffered the setback after giving up three runs, two earned, on five hits and two walks with a pair of Ks in 4.2 innings. 
• Erin Hancock shoved 1.1 innings of relief in which she let up one run on two hits with two strikeouts to her credit. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Cifaratta record two RBI on her hit, a homer, and scored one run. 
• Boci notched one hit, a jack, for one RBI and run scored, respectively. 
• Murphy and Quintana each had one hit and scored once. 
• Brandow, Zellin and Bianca Luciano all chipped in one hit. 

NOTEWORTHY

• The blue-and-gold coupled back-to-back wins over WIT together since winning a dozen games straight from April 4, 19994-April 11, 2021.
• Suffolk moved to 16-4 all-time against Wentworth. 
• The Rams improved to 12-3 when hosting WIT. 
• Cifaratta hit her first home of the season, second of her career, both of which have come in East Boston.
• Cifaratta extended her hit streak to 10 games. 
• Boci barreled her second home run of her collegiate career. Both jacks came this year and both went over the fence in Eastie. 
• Suffolk logged a pair of dingers in a single game for the second time this year, first since barreling three balls out of the park in game two against Lesley April 5, 2022.
• Quintana pushed her hit streak to three games. 

POST-GAME PIC
  

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk heads to Endicott tomorrow, Sunday, April 24 for a CCC twinbill.