Carrano Delivers 100th Career Hit, WNE Softball Splits Doubleheader with Endicott

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 7, 2023) – The Western New England softball team saw third baseman Kailey Carrano hit three home runs, including her 100^th career hit, as the Golden Bears split an important double header with the visiting Gulls of Endicott College, winning game one 6-4 before dropping game two 7-5. 

Records:

• Western New England: 13-7, 3-1 CCC 
• Endicott College: 13-5, 4-2 CCC 

Game 1 Pitching Records:

• W: Megan Beebe: 5-3
• L: Maria Hanchuk: 4-3

Game 2 Pitching Records:

• W:Jaylin Couto: 4-2
• L: Emilia Garcia: 0-1

How it Happened (Game 1): 

After a quiet first three innings of the game the featured six strikeouts for Western New England starting pitcher Megan Beebe, the Golden Bears saw the visiting Gulls crack for the first offense of the game to get on the board first. Endicott's Lauren Misiaszek and Chloe Shapleigh would collect RBI hits in the top of the fourth to get Endicott a quick 3-0 lead. The Golden Bears would quickly find their offensive game in the bottom of the fourth inning after Paige Baca led the inning off with a double to left center field before WNE 2B Dina DiBlasio smacked a home right to right center field to get the Golden Bears on the board, trailing 3-2. 

Western New England would continue their offense in the bottom of the fifth when Brianna Floyd hit a single to right field and Taylor Keegan would clear the bases with a two-run home run to straight away center field to give the Golden Bears their first lead of the game, sitting a 4-3. Beebe would put together a quick 1-2-3 sixth while WNE would grab their third home run of the game off Endicott starter Maria Hanchuk after Kailey Carrano scored Grace Hemstock on a two-run blast to give Western New England a 6-3 lead. 

Needing offense to stay alive, the Gulls would come around with a triple with one out in the inning when Lindsay Joubert tripled to right field before a sacrifice fly would score the Gulls left fielder. Megan Beebe would struck out the final batter of the game to secure the win for the blue and gold, picking up a crucial CCC victory over the reigning CCC Champions. 

Around the Lines:

• Western New England would be sparked by three home runs in the game after Dina DiBlasio, Taylor Keegan, and Kailey Carrano would go bridge. 
• Neither team had a player collect more than one hit in the game. 
• SP Megan Beebe shined, going the distance, giving up five hits and four runs while walking one and striking out nine Gulls. 
• Endicott starter Maria Hanchuk went the first 5.1 innings giving up five hits and six runs while walking two in the game. 

How it Happened (Game 2):

Looking to bounce game from their game one defeat, the Gulls got on the board first on a solo home run from Raven Comtois off SP Ava Blanchard to give the Gulls an early 1-0 lead. After Paige Baca collected a double in the bottom of the first inning for the Golden Bears, though WNE would be unable to score the runner, leaving the Gulls ahead by one run after one. Endicott would expand on their lead in the top of the second inning after a two-run home run from Lindsay Joubert would give the Gulls a 3-0 lead.

The Golden Bears would collect three hits and two runs in the bottom of the second when Kailey Carrano crushed her second home run of the day which was her 100^th career hit of her career, which started a rally for WNE. Alex Ferriouolo would double to left field while Cori Rizzo would crush a double to right to score Ferriouolo as Western New England would bring the score down to 3-2 in favor of EC. 

In the bottom of the third, WNE would see Dina DiBlasio single to shortstop with Kailey Carrano singled to left field, though Western New England wouldn't be able to capitalize on the chance, leaving the Gulls ahead 3-2. Endicott would come away with two runs in the top of the fifth after a single up the middle and sacrifice fly would lead to a 5-2 Gulls lead. Western New England would need just one swing of the bat to tie the game after Taylor Keegan would be hit by a pitch and Paige Baca would reach on a Gulls error before Kailey Carrano would go deep for the second time in the game and third time on the day to even the score at five. 

The Gulls would take the lead again in the top of the sixth after a single up the middle would give Endicott a 6-5 lead. After a leadoff single from Madison Mason, Western New England wouldn't be able to score a run in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Golden Bears would need a big seventh inning to take the win. Endicott would add an insurance run in the top of the seventh on a double to center field, leading 7-5 heading into the final three outs of play. The Golden Bears would go down in order to end the game as Endicott would take game two by a final score of 7-5. 

Around the Lines:

• Kailey Carrano went 3/3 at the dish scoring two runs and driving in four runs. 
• Raven Comtois led the way for EC, going 2/3 with two RBI. 
• Cori Rizzo would collect the other RBI for WNE. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England heads to Nichols College on Saturday, April 8 at 12:00 and 2:00 PM from a CCC doubleheader.