Golden Bears Earn Key Split with Roger Williams on Senior Day

DeLisi records three hits in her return to the Western New England lineup

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 22, 2017) – The Western New England University softball team earned a key doubleheader split against Roger Williams University on Saturday afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at Golden Bear Park. After being shut out 4-0 in the opener, Western New England bounced back with a 2-1 win in game two.

The program honored its five seniors, Gabby Lavinio (Dalton, Mass.), Katie Wood (Westport, Mass.), Samantha DiGiovanni (Shirley, N.Y.), Samantha Emmert (Hyde Park, N.Y.) and Corianna DeLisi (Tuxedo, N.Y.) in a pregame ceremony.

Roger Williams 4, Western New England 0

Top Performers
• Making her return to the lineup for the first time since April 8, DeLisi went 2-for-4 out of the leadoff spot in the batting order. Junior Jenn Luba (Plymouth, Conn.) posted a 3-for-3 effort at the plate, while Lavinio added two hits for the Golden Bears.
• Freshman Paige Uliase (Meriden, Conn.) got the start in the circle and dropped to 8-3 with the loss despite turning in her seventh complete game of the season.

• Sophomore Juliet Hulme (Duxbury, Mass.) earned the win for the Hawks, improving to 11-5 with a complete game shutout performance. Hulme surrendered 11 hits, but got outs when it mattered most, stranding ten Golden Bears on base.
• Senior Julianne Vesce (Mahwah, N.J.) led Roger Williams offensively, going 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI. Senior Meredith Moise (North Reading, Mass.) recorded three hits and scored one run, while senior Mikaela Grosso (West Warwick, R.I.) and junior Haley Ledbetter (Westerly, R.I.) drove in one run each.

Game Review
• Moise led off the contest with a double to left field, and Ledbetter followed with another two-base hit as the Hawks claimed a quick 1-0 lead.
• DeLisi got the bottom of the first started with a single in her first at-bat in two weeks. Freshman Aimee Kistner (Taunton, Mass.) doubled later in the frame, but Western New England was unable to get on the board as two runners were stranded in scoring position. 
• Roger Williams added to its lead in the third, as Vesce hit a two-out, two-run homer over the center field fence to make it 3-0.
• Western New England recorded two hits in both the fourth and fifth innings, but the Golden Bears were unable to break through, stranding two runners on base in both frames.
• The Hawks added one more run in the sixth on an RBI double by Grosso to extend their lead to 4-0.
• The Golden Bears left two more runners on base in both the sixth and seventh innings as Roger Williams held on for the game one win.

Western New England 2, Roger Williams 1

Top Performers
• DeLisi and Wood both went 1-for-2 with a double and one RBI, while Kistner and freshman Carlie Moss (Delmar, N.Y.) also recorded one hit each.
• DiGiovanni improved to 3-1 this season after allowing just one unearned run over four innings, while Kistner came on in relief and tossed three shutout frames to earn the save.

• Vesce accounted for two of Roger Williams' six hits, and freshman pitcher Alyssa Murray (Green Brook, N.J.) gave up two runs on four hits during her six innings of work in the circle.

Game Review
• After being shut out in the opener, Western New England wasted no time in getting on the board in game two. DeLisi was hit by a pitch to lead off the first inning, before advancing to second on a sacrifice and third on a groundout. Wood came up with two outs in the inning and singled to right center, scoring DeLisi to give the Golden Bears a 1-0 lead.
• Western New England doubled its advantage the following inning, as DeLisi beat out an infield single with two outs, allowing Moss to score from third base.
• Roger Williams got one run back in the third, when Ledbetter reached base on a bunt single before eventually coming around to score on a Western New England throwing error.
• DiGiovanni worked around a pair of singles in the fourth, stranding two runners in scoring position, before giving way to Kistner in the fifth. The freshman surrendered a double to the first batter she faced, but proceeded to shut down Roger Williams the rest of the way, retiring the next nine batters in order to earn her first career save.

Notes
• With just two CCC games to play, Western New England holds a tiebreaker over the Hawks for second place in the conference standings.
• DiGiovanni's three wins this season match her career high, set as a freshman in 2014 and again last spring.

Up Next
Western New England (21-9, 11-5 CCC) wraps up its conference slate tomorrow at Wentworth, while Roger Williams (21-15, 11-5 CCC) returns home to host Endicott.