Western New England Opens Home Slate with Two Wins over Roger Williams

Golden Bears extend winning streak to five games

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 7, 2019) – The Western New England University softball team opened its home slate with a pair of wins over Roger Williams University on Sunday afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at Golden Bear Park.

Western New England 4, Roger Williams 3

Top Performers
Freshman Jamie Cookingham (Warner, N.H.) was responsible for half of Western New England's offensive output in the opener, as she recorded a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth.

Freshman Dina DiBlasio (Norwalk, Conn.) and sophomore Emily Cooney (Berlin, Conn.) drove in one run each for the Golden Bears, while DiBlasio and junior Carlie Moss (Delmar, N.Y.) both doubled.

Junior Paige Uliase (Meriden, Conn.) earned the win in the circle with a complete game effort, striking out four batters and allowing two earned runs over seven innings.

Roger Williams sophomore Sydney Provencal (Cumberland, R.I.) paced the Hawks, going 2-for-3 with one run scored, while juniors Alexis Romano (Shirley, N.Y.) and Tara Chatowsky (North Kingstown, R.I.) recorded one RBI apiece.

Game Review
Western New England put one run on the board in the bottom of the first inning, as Kistner worked a two-out walk and stole second before coming in to score on DiBlasio's RBI double to right center.

A Golden Bear error allowed the Hawks to tie the contest in the top of the third. Freshman Madi Francis (Coventry, Conn.) reached on an infield single, and senior Bella Malvinni (Westerly, R.I.) was retired on a sacrifice bunt, but the throw across the diamond attempting to get Francis at third was off the mark.

Western New England quickly regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth, courtesy of Cookingham's two-run shot to center field, her first career home run.

An RBI single down the left field line by Cooney in the fifth extended the Golden Bears' advantage to 4-1, but the Hawks weren't done.

In the top of the sixth, Romano came up with runners on second and third and one out and drove in a run with a groundout. Chatowsky followed with an RBI double that made it a one-run game (4-3), but she was thrown out at third trying to extend her hit to a triple.

Uliase worked around a two-out single to close out the Hawks in the seventh as Western New England won game one 4-3.

Western New England 7, Roger Williams 3

Top Performers
Cookingham again fueled the offense in game two, going 2-for-3 at the plate with a run scored. Cooney went 1-for-2 with two walks and two runs, while DiBlasio, sophomore Allie Buzzeo (Stamford, Conn.) and junior Aimee Kistner (Taunton, Mass.) drove in one run each.

Kistner also got the start in the circle and improved to 8-2 this season with six strikeouts and two earned runs over six innings of work.

For Roger Williams, senior Elizabeth Lombardo (Thomaston, Conn.) went 2-for-4 with a solo home run.

Game Review
Kistner ran into trouble in the first inning as the Hawks loaded the bases and freshman Alexandra Lombardo (Thomaston, Conn.) worked a walk to bring in a run. Kistner was able to limit the damage, however, as she induced a groundout to strand three runners on base.

The Golden Bears recorded two hits in the bottom of the first, but a pair of costly Roger Williams errors helped Western New England put four runs on the board.

Both teams scored once in the second inning, as Elizabeth Lombardo went deep for the Hawks in the top half of the frame, before Kistner came through with a two-out, RBI single in the bottom half of the inning to restore Western New England's three-run advantage (5-2).

The Golden Bears capitalized on two more Roger Williams errors in the third to extend their lead to 7-2, and Kistner limited the Hawks to one more run on an RBI groundout by Francis in the fourth. Kistner worked out of a bases loaded jam in the fifth and retired the side in order in the sixth, before sophomore Heather Hassler (Oxford, Conn.) came on to work a 1-2-3 seventh.

Up Next
Western New England (13-7, 3-1 CCC) heads to Endicott on Tuesday to make up Saturday's postponed doubleheader, while Roger Williams (10-14, 2-4 CCC) travels to Curry next Saturday.