WESTON, Mass. – Kirbie Garvey (Littleton, Mass.) had two hits and two runs, Alexa Nejaime (Sandisfield, Mass.) tripled and scored and the Regis College softball team advanced to final round play with a 5-1 quarterfinal win at the New England Collegiate Conference softball tournament Wednesday at Regis Field.
With the win, the fifth-seeded Pride (17-12) move on to a double-elimination final round held at Becker College beginning Friday. Regis will open with the host Hawks at 10:00 a.m. Mitchell closes its season at 11-22.
Katie Cuozzo (Lynn, Mass.) improved to 12-4, allowing one run on four hits with a pair of strikeouts. Brittany Fiederlein (East Hampton, Conn.) suffered the loss for Mitchell, giving up three earned runs on 12 hits.
The Pride gave Cuozzo all the run support she needed with two runs in the first inning. Caloggero's base hit was mishandled in the outfield allowing Garvey to score all the way from first base. Caloggero, who had advanced to third on the mishap, was later driven home on a single by Alyssa McKinnon (Rowley, Mass.).
The Pride padded their lead in the third after doubles from Brianna Napoleone (Medford, Mass.) and Amanda Navarro (Stoneham, Mass.) pushed the lead to 3-0. Regis had a chance to break the game wide open in the fourth inning after loading the bases with one out. Alexa Nejaime tripled to open the inning then was driven home by an Allie Petillo (West Sayville, N.Y.) double but Regis would have to settle for just the one run. Caloggero and McKinnon both popped up with the bases loaded to end the threat.
The Wildcats put runners in scoring position in both the third and fourth innings but would come up empty on both occasions. They finally broke through when Fiederlein helped her own cause with a solo homerun in the fifth inning. That would turn out to be Mitchell's final hit of the game as Cuozzo retired the final five batters to secure the win.
Caloggero had two hits, one run and one RBI with Alexa Nejaime and Petillo also collecting a pair hits.