BOSTON – Down three runs in the seventh, Suffolk softball rallied, tied things up and walked away the Commonwealth Coast Conference nightcap versus Gordon in the eighth inning, 5-4, Sunday night at Rotch Field.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 5 | Gordon 4
RECORDS: Suffolk (13-15, 4-4 CCC) | Gordon (8-20, 3-7 CCC)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
Gordon got on the board in the second. With two outs Samantha Perkins kept the inning going with a double to left center. Morgan Passolo brought Perkins to push the visitors in front 1-0. 

Suffolk's answer came in the bottom of the fifth. Like the Fighting Scots, Bella Rocha-Medeiros doubled to left center to lead of the inning. Gordon brought in Emily Graham in to twirl to Passolo, but Jolie Quintana laid a bunt down to move Rocha-Medeiros 90 feet into prime scoring position. Catherine Carignan put the ball in play and visitors chose to make the play at the safe, but the runner was under the tag to tie things at 1-alll.  

Fans were kept on the edge of their seats until a thrilling seventh.  

First, the Fighting Scots took a 4-1 lead after scoring three on two hits and a pair of Rams errors.  

Suffolk answered with three runs of its own to level things at 4-all and force extra innings. Maddie Southers walked and stole second and third but didn't need to as Becky Zellin double to left center. Mills base hit pushed Zellin to third and an error on the throw to the plate on a double steal paid off for the blue-and-gold, trimming the gap to one. A pitching change for the Fighting Scots got the first out of the frame, but Lily Gustafson managed to bunt and Mills slid in on the fielder's choice to lock things at 4-all.

The Rams took care of business defensively in the top of the eighth. Diana Rucinski was placed on second and Rocha-Medeiros did her job with a bunt down the third base line to move her to third. Quintana pushed the ball to the middle infield and Rocha-Medeiros sprinted in to score. The tag was not in time at the plate and Suffolk secured the walk-off win, 5-4. 

PITCHERS PICTURE

• Newhall logged a four-run (one earned), seven-hit, two-walk, one-strikeout complete-game victory. 
• Passolo took the loss. She gave up two runs, one earned, on four hits and one walk with four punchouts in 5.1 frames of action. Passolo started then reentered the circle in the bottom of the seventh before closing the game for the Fighting Scots. 
• Graham logged a one-run, two-hit, two-walk, one-strikeout effort in 2.0 innings of relief. 
• Sierra Ricci gave up two runs, one earned, on two hits out of the pen. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Quintana finished with one RBI in the outing. The catcher was responsible for bringing in the game-winning run. 
• Zellin went 2-for-3 with one double. She logged one RBI and one run scored. 
• Turnbull tallied a 2-for-3 plate performance. 
• Mills added two hits, one run and one stolen base. 
• Rocha-Medeiros registered one hit, a double, one run, the game winner and one walk. 
• Carignan chipped in one hit and one RBI. 
• Gustafson brought in one run. 
• Southers scored two bases and scored one run. 
• Rucinski scored one run. 

NOTEWORTHY

• The Rams moved to 6-3 all-time against the Fighting Scots. 
• The win was Suffolk's first over Gordon since April 4, 2023, a 4-3 decision.
• Suffolk and Gordon went into extra innings for the first time. 
• The Rams are 1-0 against the Fighting Scots in extra innings. 
• Suffolk is now 1-1 versus Gordon under Megan Cook's guidance. 
• Suffolk played its third extra-inning game of the year. 
• The Rams are now 2-1 when needing extra time with Cook on the bench. 
• Rocha-Medeiros tied a career-high in hits (1) and produced the first double and scored the first run of her collegiate career. 
• Southers matched a personal-best two stolen bases.  

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk rides the winning momentum to Biddeford, Maine tomorrow, Monday, April 15 for a twinbill at the University of New England. Game one is scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m.