WESTON, Mass. – Regis College split a non-conference softball doubleheader with Mount Ida College on a cold and blustery Tuesday night in Weston, Mass. The Mustangs (5-10) took game one, 7-4, before the Pride (5-11) rebounded for a 10-2 win in five innings in the nightcap.
Mount Ida struck first in the opener as Kirsten Guerrero (Fairfield, Conn.) drove in Devan Meeker (Bantam, Conn.) with an RBI single to make it a 1-0 game in the first inning. The Pride answered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the first as Alyssa McKinnon (Raynham, Mass.) singled home Kara Donovan (Woburn, Mass.) and Raegan Heck (Phillipston, Mass.) drove in McKinnon with an RBI double to put the Pride on top, 2-1.
The Mustangs responded with a pair of runs in the top of the second, taking advantage of a passed ball that scored Meghan Moriarty (Holbrook, Mass.) and a Megan Hall (Danielson, Conn.) RBI single that plated Chaise Courbron (Monroe, Conn.). Trailing 3-2, current New England Collegiate Conference Rookie of the Week Kirbie Garvey (Littleton, Mass.) knotted the game at 3-all with an RBI double to the gap in right-center to score Kelsey Heath (Lowell, Mass.).
Regis took its second lead of the game in the bottom of the fourth with a two out rally sparked by Garvey. The rookie smoked a double to right-center for the second-straight at bat, and came around to score on a Haley Fountain (Warren, Mass.) wall-ball single that put the Pride on top 4-3.
Mount Ida responded in the top of the fifth as Guerrero worked a lead-off walk before Nickole Soto (Marlboro, Mass.) dropped a single down the right field line to put runners on the corners with no outs. Kaitlyn Berube (Fall River, Mass.) cleared the bases with a double over the leftfielder's head, plating a pair of runs, and putting the Mustangs back on top, 5-4. The Mustangs tacked on two more runs in the top of the sixth as Tiffany Hamann (Newton, Mass.) scored on a wild pitch and Soto added an RBI groundout to make it a 7-4 game. The Pride put runners on in both the sixth and seventh inning, but could not cut into the deficit as Mount Ida took game one, 7-4.
Garvey, Fountain, and McKinnon all went 2-for-3 in game one and combined to drive in three runs. Raegan Heck went 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Kelsey Heath was 2-for-3 with a run scored. Katie Cuozzo (Lynn, Mass.) suffered the setback, allowing seven runs (five earned) on 14 hits, while striking out nine.
Devan Meeker and Megan Hall combined to go 6-for-9 in the opener to lead the Mustangs. Guerrero and Soto added two RBI's apiece. Allie Norris (Plymouth, Mass.) picked up her third win of the season, tossing seven innings and allowing four earned runs on 13 hits.
Game two started out much the same as the Mustangs struck first in the top of the first, this time on a well-executed double-steal that allowed Cassie Durand (Dracut, Mass.) to score. The Regis bats came alive in their half of the first as Heck hit a two-run double followed by an RBI double from Jill Bruning (Medford, Mass.) that made it a 3-1 game. The Pride added one more run when Samantha Bliss (Framingham, Mass.) hit a groundball to short that should have ended the inning, but the throw to second got away and Bruning came in the back door to make it a 4-1 ball game.
Kaitlyn Berube led off the Mount Ida top of the second with a single and two batters later, came around to score on a Megan Hall triple to the gap in right center that made it a 4-2 game. Regis answered right back in their half of the second with McKinnon hitting a sacrifice fly, and Bruning driving in a pair with her second double of the day to make it a 7-2 game.
Haley Fountain helped her cause with an RBI double in the bottom of the third that scored Bliss to make it an 8-2 game, and Shannon Bradish (Lawrence, Mass.) drove in a run with an RBI single to right to make it a seven run lead. Bliss picked up an RBI with a groundout to push the Pride lead to 10-2 headed into the top of the fifth.
Megan Hall led off the inning with a double over the centerfielder's head, but she was stranded at third as Haley Fountain closed out her third win of the season by retiring the final three batters she faced en route to the 10-2 win.
Jill Bruning led the Pride attack, going 3-for-3 with three RBI and a pair of runs scored. Kirbie Garvey, Fountain, Raegan Heck, and Shannon Bradish each had two-hit days and combined to score five runs and drive in four. Samantha Bliss went 1-for-3 with a pair of RBI and a run scored. Fountain improves to 3-4 on the year, scattering five hits and allowing only two runs while striking out seven.
Megan Hall went 2-for-2 in the night cap with an RBI. Tiffany Hamann, Kaitlyn Berube, and Meghan Moriarty added the other hits for the Mustangs. Devan Meeker falls to 2-8 on the year while allowing 10 runs (nine earned) on 13 hits over four innings of work.
The Pride return conference play on Friday afternoon with a NECC doubleheader versus Lesley University starting at 4:00 p.m. Mount Ida hosts Wheelock College on Wednesday afternoon in a non-league twinbill starting at 3:00 p.m.