Golden Bears Split with Albright & Marian on Second Day in Florida

DiBlasio records team-high five RBI over the two games

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (March 17, 2019) – The Western New England University softball team split a pair of games with Albright (Pa.) College and Marian (Wisc.) University on Sunday at the Osceola County Softball Complex.

The Golden Bears opened their second day in Florida with a 6-2 win over Albright, before falling to Marian, 8-4.

Western New England 6, Albright 2

Top Performers
Making her first start of the season in the circle, junior Aimee Kistner (Taunton, Mass.) pitched six shutout innings for the Golden Bears. 

Freshman Dina DiBlasio (Norwalk, Conn.) led the way offensively, going 3-for-4 at the plate with a double, her first career home run and three RBI. Sophomore Emilie Decker (Pattersonville, N.Y.) went 2-for-3 with a walk, one RBI and one run scored, while junior Sydney Pounds (Milford, Mass.) added a pair of singles.

For Albright, junior Brooke Yerger (Boyertown, Pa.) went 2-for-3 with one RBI out of the leadoff spot, and senior Kelly Cembrale (Bethpage, N.Y.) recorded an RBI triple.

Game Review
Western New England struck first with one run in the top of the first inning, as sophomore Emily Cooney (Berlin, Conn.) worked a leadoff walk before coming in to score on an RBI groundout by Kistner.

The Golden Bears tacked on single runs in the second and fourth innings, before using a three-run top of the seventh to open up a 6-0 advantage.

Albright made the game interesting with two runs in the bottom of the seventh, as Cembrale hit an RBI triple and Yerger added a sacrifice fly, but Western New England sophomore pitcher Heather Hassler (Oxford, Conn.) was able to strand two runners on base to secure the win.

Marian 8, Western New England 4

Top Performers
DiBlasio turned in another strong offensive showing in the second game of the day, as she went 1-for-2 with a walk, a two-run double and one run scored.

Sophomore Allie Buzzeo (Stamford, Conn.) also recorded an RBI double, while freshman Jamie Cookingham (Warner, N.H.) went 2-for-3 with one run.

Marian senior Lindsey Strainis (Green Bay, Wisc.) powered the Sabres with a 2-for-4 performance and two RBI.

Juniors Ally Fox (Greenville, Wisc.) and Taylor Lauscher (Green Bay, Wisc.) and sophomore Alexa Rodriguez (Richmond, Ill.) were also key contributors offensively with two hits and one RBI each.

Game Review
Marian opened the scoring with three runs in the top of the second. The first two runs of the contest scored on a pair of Western New England errors, and Fox added a two-out RBI triple to make it 3-0.

The Golden Bear offense broke through with four runs in the bottom of the fourth to give Western New England its first lead. Kistner got it started with a one-out single, and Cookingham followed with another single before Buzzeo got the Golden Bears on the board with an RBI double. DiBlasio came up next and delivered a two-run double to tie the contest, before Decker put the Golden Bears in front with an RBI groundout later in the frame.

Western New England's lead didn't last long, however, as Marian used an RBI single from Lauscher in the top of the fifth to tie the score.

The Sabres then pulled ahead in the sixth inning on a two-out, two-run single by Strainis, which came one batter after Fox reached base on an error that would have ended the frame.

Marian tacked on two more runs in the seventh inning, and the Golden Bears went down in order in their final at-bat.

Up Next
Western New England (2-1) is back in action tomorrow with two more games against Allegheny and Wisconsin-Superior at 9:45 a.m. and 12 p.m., respectively.