By: David Sanok
The Huskies’ softball team defeated the Bates Bobcats 1-0 and 7-6 in a doubleheader last Wednesday. The first matchup featured solid pitching from freshman Desiree Benner.
Benner earned her fourth win of the season while pitching just over six innings, finishing the game with three strikeouts. “She was really on top of her game,” said Head Coach Sarah Jamo. “We left a lot of runners on base, but Benner did an outstanding job getting through those tough innings.”
Senior Stefanie Stockwell drove in the only run of the game in the third inning to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead. In the top of the seventh inning, Stockwell relieved Benner to pitch the remainder of the game. Stockwell successfully got Bobcat’s sophomore Alex Eliopoulos out from a pop-up ball to center field, clinching the win.
Stockwell was the starting pitcher for the Huskies during their second matchup against the Bobcats and finished the game with three strikeouts, but surrendered six runs. In what was a back and forth game, the Huskies rallied from a five run deficit in the third inning and a 6-4 deficit in the sixth inning to pull off a thrilling 7-6 come-from-behind win.
“Stockwell had control problems early on, but she made the proper adjustments and finished the game strong,” said Jamo. “I think this rally showed just how strong the character of this team is and that no matter how big the deficit–our team never quits.”
The leading hitters for the Huskies were juniors Lily Cooper and Kristen Duross who each drove in two RBIs. Freshmen Emily York, Allison Pillar, and Samantha Crosman also added one RBI each.
Cooper’s two RBIs came in the bottom of the sixth inning when she hit a two-out single that drove in freshmen Leanne Reichert and junior Rachel Edson for the winning runs. This gave the Huskies their first lead of the game and put them in position to finally steal the win.
“I’m so proud of Cooper,” said Jamo. “She just kept her poise on plate like she’s done throughout the entire season and came up big when we really needed her to.”
With the win, the Huskies improve their record to 14-15 while the Bobcats dropped their record to 3-12. The Huskies will be at home twice this week against UMass-Boston on Wednesday in a double header and against Eastern Connecticut on Saturday in their final regular season game.