Western New England Caps Florida Trip with 6-3 Wins Over Clarkson & Wooster

Golden Bears finish trip with 4-6 record

CLERMONT, Fla. (March 22, 2018) – The Western New England University softball team wrapped up its ten-game, season-opening trip in Florida with 6-3 victories over both Clarkson (N.Y.) University and the College of Wooster (Ohio) on Thursday at Hancock Park. 

Western New England 6, Clarkson 3

Top Performers
• Sophomore Aimee Kistner (Taunton, Mass.) and freshman Cassidy Howe (North Andover, Mass.) drove in two runs each in Thursday's opener against Clarkson, while sophomore Carlie Moss (Delmar, N.Y.) went 1-for-4 with one RBI.
• Sophomore Paige Uliase (Meriden, Conn.) started in the circle and improved to 2-3 this season after striking out six batters and allowing just one earned run on five hits in a complete game effort.

• Sophomore Michele Winn (Latham, N.Y.) led the way for the Golden Knights, as she went 2-for-3 with two RBI.
• Senior Summer Lancette (Oneida, N.Y.) posted a 2-for-3 effort with two runs scored, while freshman Hannah Bowen (Batavia, N.Y.) hit a solo home run.

Game Review
Clarkson took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI single by Winn, but the Golden Bears answered in the top of the second, when Moss came through with a two-out, RBI single to right field, scoring Kistner.

Western New England pulled ahead for good in the third, as the first two batters reached base before coming in to score on a two-run single by Howe. Later in the inning, an error allowed Howe to cross the plate as the Golden Bears opened up a 4-1 advantage.

Clarkson cut its deficit to one (4-3) with two runs in the bottom half of the inning, which came on Bowen's solo shot and Winn's second RBI single of the contest.

Neither team scored over the next three frames, before Western New England tacked on two insurance runs in the seventh to extend the final margin to three.

Western New England 6, Wooster 3

Top Performers
• Seniors Lindsay Williams (Coventry, Conn.) and Jenn Luba (Plymouth, Conn.) and Moss led a balanced Western New England offense against Wooster, as all three players recorded two hits and one RBI.
• Kistner was impressive in the circle, striking out seven batters and allowing just two hits over 4.2 shutout frames to earn the win (2-3) in relief.

• Junior Chelsea Copley (Bidwell, Ohio), sophomore Marina Roski (Diamond Bar, Calif.) and freshman Emmalee Cooke (Wakeman, Ohio) accounted for six of the Fighting Scots' seven hits with two each. 

Game Review
After Wooster scored a pair of runs in the top of the first inning, Western New England cut its deficit in half in the bottom of the second on an RBI single by Moss. 

The Fighting Scots restored their two-run lead (3-1) on a sacrifice fly by freshman Heidi Likins (St. Clair, Mich.) in the third, but they were held scoreless for the remainder of the contest.

Western New England pulled ahead for good (4-3) with three runs in the bottom half of the inning, highlighted by RBI singles from Luba and sophomore Mallory Donelan (Mineola, N.Y.).

A two-run single by Williams in the sixth extended Western New England's advantage to 6-3, and Kistner worked around a leadoff single in the seventh to seal the win for the Golden Bears. 

Up Next
Western New England (4-6) will be back in action next Wednesday, when the Golden Bears open Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) play at Nichols College.