WENHAM, Mass. – Suffolk softball hit early and often to gain an advantage it never let go of to defeat Gordon, 10-4, in the nightcap of a CCC doubleheader Wednesday night at the Fighting Scots Softball Field.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 10 | Gordon 4
RECORDS: Suffolk (5-7, 3-1 CCC) | Gordon (1-3, 1-1 CCC)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
The majority of the scoring came at the beginning of the outing. With two outs and the bases loaded Leina Belog worked a 0-1 count before sending a no-doubter to left center. The sophomore's shot cleared the bags and pushed the Rams ahead by four early on.  

The first frame kept going when Brooke Cloak doubled and came around two hitters later thanks to Hailey Cockroft's single to right field. With Suffolk ahead 5-0, Gordon made a change in the circle.  

Despite the two outs on the board, it was like a new inning as K. Brown came in to face the top of the order. Caitlin Murphy grounded out to second though to keep Suffolk in front by five.

The Fighting Scots made up some ground in the home half of the first. A pair of walks and singles let two runners scored to trim the blue-and-gold's cushion to three, 5-2.  

Three innings later Suffolk stretched matters further in its favor. Rachel Doan's first collegiate hit, a single to shortstop, opened the frame. A walk by Murphy followed by Ira Boci's single through the left side juiced the bags to set up Ally Cifaratta's ground out RBI.  

That run was followed up by a pair behind a costly error by the Fighting Scots' left fielder that gave Ashley Zulla a pair of RBIs. Zulla then ran home on Savannah Scripter's single to right center to extend the edge to 9-2.  

Gordon made its second change on the rubber of the outing as game one starter Mara Little came in to heave. Little secured the final out of the frame to keep the distance at seven. 

Little proved to help the Fighting Scots as she retired Suffolk in the sixth before Lily Rivera homered to right center in the bottom of the inning to pull the hosts back within six.  

A Rams response followed the next time the blue-and-gold went to the dish to regain that seven-run distance. Murphy lead off with a single up the middle, swiped second, and turned her wheels on when Boci batted a single to right field.  

Belog took over for Kennedy Reyes to wrap up the game. The right-handed twirler traded strikeouts and singles before an error by Scripter at first allowed a Fighting Scot run to come in. That mishap was directly followed by Belog's third punchout of the inning and day to seal the victory for Suffolk. 

PITCHERS PICTURE

• Reyes recorded the win behind three-run, six-hit, five-walk, four-strikeout effort over 6.0 innings. 
• Belog tossed 1.0 inning of relief with two hits and one unearned run allowed with a three Ks. 
• Gordon cycled through three different arms. 
• Fighting Scots started, Laura Bieren, suffered the setback after giving up five runs on five hits and one walk with one punchout in 0.2 innings. 
• Kristen Brown (3.0 IP, 4 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 2 Ks) and Little (3.1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 1 K) split the remainder of the action. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Boci's bat led the way with multiple hits. The freshman went 3-for-4 with two runs and one RBI. 
• Belog contributed four RBI on her lone hit, a grand slam, to go with one run scored. 
• Zulla provided two RBI, two runs and one hit. 
• Murphy scored twice, had one hit, one stolen base and one walk. 
• Cloak contributed one double and one run scored. 
• Cockroft chipped in one hit, one RBI and one stolen base.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk and Gordon met in the first doubleheader of the series. 
• Each of the Rams' outings against the Fighting Scots have come in the Jaclyn Davis' era. 
• Belog (4 games), Murphy (4 games), and Zulla (5 games) kept their hit streaks going. 
• Belog hit all the bases with one go at the plate to become the second player this season to knock a grand slam. Zulla was the first, accomplishing the feat in an 11-2, six-inning victory over Wentworth March 27. 
• Belog knocked her third collegiate bomb and had a career-high four RBI.
• Doan recorded her first collegiate hit and run scored.
• Boci rewrote career-highs in hits (3) and runs scored (2). 
• Cloak matched a personal-best one double. 
• Cockroft stole the first base of her collegiate career.

POST-GAME PIC
  

SUFFOLK'S SCHEDULE
Suffolk begins a home-and-home series with Endicott Friday, April 2 at East Boston Memorial Park. Game one has a 3 p.m. first pitch.