Golden Bears Eliminated from CCC Tournament with 2-1 Loss to Gordon

WNE finishes 2019 campaign with 21-17 record

BIDDEFORD, Maine (May 2, 2019) – The third-seeded Western New England University softball team was eliminated from the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Tournament with a 2-1 loss to No. 7 seed Gordon College on Thursday afternoon at Nor'easter Diamond on the campus of the University of New England.

With the loss, Western New England's season comes to a close at 21-17. Gordon (19-19) will face the loser of tomorrow morning's contest between Roger Williams and Endicott, which is scheduled for 11 a.m.

Top Performers
Western New England junior pitcher Aimee Kistner (Taunton, Mass.) was strong in the circle, striking out a season-high 12 batters while allowing one earned run on four hits over seven innings.

Freshman Dina DiBlasio (Norwalk, Conn.) accounted for the Golden Bears' lone hit with a double in the seventh inning, which broke up Gordon junior Caitlin Catalanotto's (Kingston, N.H.) no-hit bid. Catalanotto struck out six batters and surrendered just one unearned run.

The Fighting Scots were led offensively by sophomores Kristen Brown (Granite Springs, N.Y.) and Karissa Hatchell (Eaton, Colo.), who drove in one run each.

Game Review
Both teams scored one run in the first inning. Senior Megan Jenkerson (McDonough, Ga.) led off the top of the first for Gordon and was hit by a pitch. She then advanced to second on a wild pitch, and Hatchell walked to put two runners on base. After Jenkerson was retired on an interference call, Brown delivered an RBI single to center field, giving the Fighting Scots a 1-0 lead.

The Golden Bears answered in the bottom half of the frame with a run of their own. Sophomore Emily Cooney (Berlin, Conn.) led off with a walk, and sophomore Allie Buzzeo (Stamford, Conn.) followed with a strikeout before Kistner reached on a walk. Catalanotto got freshman Jamie Cookingham (Warner, N.H.) to pop out for the second out of the inning, but the Fighting Scots were unable to escape the inning unscathed as a dropped fly ball on a pop up by DiBlasio allowed Cooney to cross the plate with the game-tying run.

In the top of the third, Gordon regained the lead as Jenkerson led off with a single to right field, and Hatchell followed with an RBI double to left center.

The Golden Bears, who went down in order in the second, third and fourth innings, started the fifth inning with a walk from sophomore Emilie Decker (Pattersonville, N.Y.). Catalanotto retired the next three batters she faced, however, while recording two strikeouts.

After another 1-2-3 frame in the sixth, Western New England appeared poised to break through in the seventh as DiBlasio led off with a double to left center. A sacrifice bunt advanced pinch-runner Tamara Diaz (Springfield, Mass.) to third base, but Catalanotto struck out Decker before getting Paige Uliase (Meriden, Conn.) to line out on a tough play to left center to end the contest.