Northfield, Vt.- In their home opener, the Norwich softball team hosted twin state rival New England College Wednesday afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) doubleheader action.

Although the Pilgrims started off fast in their first at bat with three runs, the Cadets responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the first which began with a leadoff double by Madison DeCota (Strafford, N.H.). Following DeCota, Lilana Rolfe (Plainville, Mass.) singled to put runners on the corners for Rachel Kempf (Warwick, R.I.) who drove home DeCota to shrink the deficit to two.

After DeCota kept NEC at bay by retiring the side, the Norwich bats came alive in the second. To lead off the inning, Courtney Thomas (Strafford, N.H.) laced a double to left, and would later come home on an RBI single by Kelcie Petrone (Redding, Conn.) to make it a one run game. Petrone would make her way to third, as the bases would become loaded before Petrone came home on a failed pick off attempt by the catcher that wound up in center field. Norwich would break the tie with Gianna Missiti (Bedford, Mass.) crossing the plate on an error, and extended their lead with another RBI single for Kempf to cap off a four-run inning.    

The Pilgrims battled back in the fourth to get within a run, but the Cadets would regain the two-run lead in the sixth with DeCota pushing Petrone across the plate with a sacrifice fly. NEC would score seven runs in the top of the seventh to take the lead for good. Offensively, DeCota, Rolfe, Petrone, and Missiti all recorded multi hit games alongside Kempf's two RBIs.  

The Pilgrims' momentum carried over into game two as they would take the lead in the second, but the Cadets responded in the third with Maren McGinn (Georgia, Vt.) doubling in DeCota. The two teams traded runs in the fourth keeping the game tied until the sixth, where Norwich would take the late lead with a bases loaded RBI single for DeCota. The Pilgrims limited the damage and plated three runs in the seventh to jump ahead for good taking the sweep despite DeCota going a perfect four for four with two RBI, and a two for three day from Kempf.

Norwich is set to hit the road Thursday for a doubleheader against Saint Joseph's College of Maine, first game starting at 3 PM.