NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University softball team picked up a crucial sweep of a pair of Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) games against Albertus Magnus on Saturday afternoon at the NU Softball Field.
The Cadets (13-9, 8-6 GNAC) broke a scoreless tie with two runs in the bottom of the third to cruise to a 6-0 shutout victory in Game 1. NU then rode the momentum off two home runs from sophomore utility player Briana Day (Yelm, Wash) and Melissa Rome (Enfield, Conn.) to capture the Game 2 victory by a score of 7-1 and complete the series sweep while cementing its grasp on the No. 7 spot in the GNAC standings.
In Game 1, freshman pitcher Corinne Baita (Rochester, N.H.) threw six innings of shutout ball while surrendering just three hits and one walk to go along with eight strikeouts to pick up her sixth win of the season.
Sophomore Kaylie Miller (Long Lake, N.Y.) and freshman Kelly Travers (Whitman, Mass.) laced back-to-back doubles to open the bottom of the third and put Norwich up 1-0 after Travers knocked home Miller from second. Day brought home Travers with a two-out RBI single to push the lead to 2-0.
That was more than enough run support for Baita the rest of the way as she worked methodically through the Albertus Magnus order with a great mix of off speed pitches to keep the Falcons' hitter off balance.
Miller finished the game 3-for-4 to lead the Cadets' offense. Stephanie Lamy (Bedford, N.H.), Maggie Walsh (North Plainfield, N.J.) and Erin Clark (Bradford, Vt.) each had RBI hits to key a four-run fifth inning to help put the game away for good.
In Game 2, Albertus Magnus (10-14, 6-10 GNAC) took a brief 1-0 lead in the top of the third Elaina Maio brought home Danielle Figueroa with a RBI single. However, Day responded for Norwich with a towering three-run blast off of Albertus Magnus pitcher Melissa Manning in the bottom half of the frame to give the Cadets the lead for good.
The Cadets would go on to add four more runs in the bottom of the fifth with two of them coming off Rome's first career home run that made it 7-1 NU.
Miller went the distance for Norwich in Game 2 giving up no earned runs on five hits and one walk while striking out four. The win improved her season record to 5-4. Manning was saddled with the loss for the Falcons after giving up seven runs on 12 hits.
Norwich returns to action on Monday when they travel down to Lasell to take on Simmons in a make-up doubleheader from March 31. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
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