NASHUA, N.H. - Freshman pitcher Madi McLellan (Fremont, N.H.) threw a perfect game to highlight a Regis (Mass.) softball sweep of Daniel Webster on Saturday afternoon, as the Pride beat the Eagles 18-0 and 24-1, each in five innings, in New England Collegiate Conference at Eagle Field.
With the wins, the Pride improves to 12-8 (10-2 NECC), while Daniel Webster drops to 3-16 (1-11 NECC) on the season.
McLellan (8-5) sat down all 15 Eagle hitters she faced on the afternoon in the first game of the doubleheader, and got some help from her offense to boot. McLellan struck out eight Eagles on the afternoon, capping her perfect game on a swinging strikeout of Daniel Webster freshman Alissa Ouellette (Nashua, N.H.) in the bottom of the fifth inning.
The Pride scored nine runs in the top of the first inning to provide McLellan with more than enough run support before she even took to the circle. Sophomore Brianna Napoleone (Medford, Mass.) had a double and a triple to go along with two runs scored and two RBIs, helping the Pride jump out to the big early lead.
The Pride would score three runs in the top of the fourth and six in the top of the fifth to put the game out of reach. Napoleone finished the game 3-for-5, just a home run shy of the cycle, while junior Amanda Navarro (Stoneham, Mass.) went 4-for-5 with four RBIs to lead the Pride offensively.
The Pride bats stayed on fire in game two, as the Pride recorded its highest offensive output in over two years. After scoring four in the first and two in the second, the big inning for Regis was the top of the third, when the visitors had 13 runs cross home plate. Freshman Ellery Rasmussen (Kingston, N.H.) and junior Alexa Nejaime (Sandisfield, Mass.) both had two hits and two runs batted in in the inning, while Navarro had two hits and three RBIs in the frame. Regis scored five in the top of the fifth to cap the afternoon with a combined 42 runs.
The lone Eagle run of the afternoon came when junior Megan Blongy (Rutland, Vt.) came around to score after reaching on a bunt base hit in the bottom of the first inning. The bunt single was the only hit allowed by Pride pitching until sophomore Amber Roberts (Berlin, N.H.) record a base hit down the left field line in the bottom of the fifth.
Navarro was again the Pride's leading hitter in game two, going an impressive 5-for-5 at the plate with five RBIs. Rasmussen had a strong game at the plate of her own, going 3-for-5 with four RBIs and a pair of doubles. Every player in the Pride's starting lineup had at least one hit and at least one run batted in the game, while only one starter failed to cross home plate in the big win.
Regis freshman pitcher Crystal Daly (North Grosvenordale, Conn.) got the win for the Pride in game two, allowing just two hits and one unearned run over five innings. Daly walked just one on the afternoon while striking out three to improve to 2-1 on the season. Roberts got the loss for the Eagles in both games on the afternoon, and falls to 3-16.
Both teams will travel to Bay Path when they take the field next, starting with the Pride traveling to Longmeadow on Sunday for a doubleheader with the Wildcats at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. The Eagles will make the trip on Wednesday, with first pitches scheduled for 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
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