BABSON PARK, Mass.—Senior
Moira O'Reilly (Columbus, Ohio) struck out 15 batters in a complete-game victory to help the Babson College softball team register a split with the Coast Guard Academy in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) season debut Saturday afternoon at Alumni Field.
O'Reilly led the Beavers to a 4-1 victory in the opener but Coast Guard staged a four-run rally in the seventh inning of the nightcap to pull out a 4-3 triumph.
With the split, Babson moves to 8-9 overall and 1-1 in the NEWMAC while Coast Guard ended the day at 2-10 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
Game 1: Babson 4, Coast Guard 1
Graduate student
Kate Karamouzis (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) went 2-for-3 with two RBI and classmate
Michaela Russell (Boston, Mass.) also drove in a pair of runs for the Beavers. First-year
Emily Walsh (Flemington, N.J.) singled, swiped a pair of bags and scored twice, junior
Athena Hadjipanayis (Rye, N.Y.) contributed a double, two stolen bases and a run scored, and O'Reilly allowed just one run on four hits to improve to 4-5 on the season.
Senior Julia Breidenthal (Leawood, Kan.) went 2-for-3 with an RBI and classmate Christine Carey (San Diego, Calif.) tripled and scored for the Bears in the loss. Fellow senior Isabelle Shroyer (Marysville, Ohio) dropped to 0-4 after giving up four runs on six hits in a complete-game effort.
Walsh drew a two-out walk in the bottom of the first, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and came home on Karamouzis' singled to center to give the Green and White a 1-0 lead. Babson doubled its advantage in the third as Walsh reached with a two-out single and stole second before scoring when Karamouzis singled down the left field line to make it 2-0.
The Beavers tacked on two more insurance runs in the fourth as Russell brought home both Hadjipanayis and first-year
Charlotte Raymond (Wrentham, Mass.) with a two-out infield single for a 4-0 advantage. The lead was more than enough for O'Reilly, who retired the first 13 batters she faced and struck out the side in both the third and sixth innings.
Game 2: Coast Guard 4, Babson 3
Walsh went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two stolen bases, Russell was 2-for-2 with an RBI, a run scored and two stolen bases, and Raymond singled twice for Babson in the loss. Junior
Sara Moore (Kennett Square, Pa.) also singled and scored, while first-year
Katie Vlacich (Concord, N.H.) took a shutout into the top of the seventh before settling for a no-decision after giving up two runs on six hits.
Senior Lillia Farlow (Carrollton, Texas) doubled and drove in two runs, while Breidenthal was 2-for-3 with a run scored for Coast Guard. Sophomore Dana Walker (Macon, Ga.) went the distance in the circle allowing three runs on nine hits to go along with four strikeouts to improve to 2-4.
Scoreless into the bottom of the fifth, the Beavers got back-to-back RBI singles from graduate student
Cassidy Musco (Walpole, Mass.) and Walsh with two outs to take a 2-0 lead. The Green and White pushed its advantage to 3-0 in the sixth thanks to an RBI single by Russell before the Bears rallied for four runs in the top of the seventh.
Shroyer and Breidenthal started the frame with back-to-back singles off of Vlacich and both scored on Farlow's double to right center off of O'Reilly (4-6) that cut the Babson lead to 3-2. O'Reilly hit the next two batters and sophomore Emma Behel (Ellicott City, Md.) tied the game with a single through the left side before first-year Elyssia Reyna (Castroville, Texas) scored on a fielder's choice to give Coast Guard its first lead of the game.
Walker worked around a two-out single by Walsh to close out the victory for the Bears.
Babson returns to action next Friday when it travels to Springfield for a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m., while Coast Guard visits Mitchell for a pair of games on Wednesday beginning at 3 p.m.
GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are now 33-38 all-time against Coast Guard and have won eight of the last 10 games between the teams.
• Babson finished Saturday's twin bill with 12 stolen bases and has swiped 51 bags through its first 17 games.
• The Green and White is now 7-1 this season when allowing two runs or less.
• Saturday's game two loss marks just the fourth time in 56 games that the Beavers have lost when leading after six innings.
