Westfield State’s Alyssa Clark is greeted at home plate by her teammates after a three-run homer against Beloit. (MICKEY CURTIS PHOTO)
CLERMONT, FLA. – Alyssa Clark’s first collegiate home run became a footnote, as Westfield State softball lost a wild affair, 11-10 to Beloit (WI) in game one of a split doubleheader in extra innings Sunday.
Clark homered in the first inning to stake the Owls to a 1-0 lead, then added a 3-run shot in the top of the ninth inning to give the Owls a 5-2 advantage.
But Beloit rallied for three runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game 5-5 and force the extra frame. Westfield exploded for five runs in the top of the eighth inning, scoring two runs on a Colleen Hughes double and two more on a Rachel Sinclair single to lead 10-5.
Beloit rallied for five unearned runs in the bottom half of the eighth, finally issuing the deciding blow on Taft’s single to left which scored two runs, including the game winner.
Maddy Pfortmiller went the distance to earn the win for the Buccaneers.
Emily Arredondo took the loss for the Owls in relief of Brenna Welch. Clark finished 3-4 with four runs batted in. Christina Ciampa added three hits and Sinclair and Kaitlynn Prophet each had two hits apiece.
In game two, Westfield fell to Pitt-Greensburg by a final score of 15-3. Madison Philbrook had a 2-run double for the Owls.
The Owls return to action with a pair of games on Thursday against UMass-Dartmouth and Suffolk at Legends Way in Clermont.
Kaitlynn Prophet makes the throw to first from her knees after a diving stop against New England College. (WESTFIELD STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS PHOTO)
OWLS DROP PAIR TO OPEN SEASON IN FLORIDA: Clark rapped out a double in her first collegiate at bat, and added a triple in game 2 as Westfield State dropped a doubleheader Saturday to New England College at Legends Way Stadium on the opening day of the Owls 10-game road trip to Florida.
New England College took a 3-0 win in game 1 behind a dominant pitching performance from Taylor Barbour, who allowed just one hit on Clark’s first inning double off the left center field wall. Barbout struck out 14 and walked just one. Emily Arredondo took the hard-luck decision in the circle for Westfield. She allowed just one earned run in six innings.
In the nightcap, Westfield rallied from a 6-0 second-inning deficit, as the Owls pushed across five runs of their own in the bottom of the second. Clark drove in two with a triple off of the right center field wall, and Megan Metzger followed with an RBI single to score Clark which cut the Pilgrims lead to 6-5.
NEC answered with two more runs in the fourth. Sam Hallice added an RBI single for the Owls in the fifth, but the Pilgrims tacked on two more runs in the seventh. Brenna Welch took the pictching loss for the Owls, while Barbour picked up the win in game 2 in relief. – Courtesy of Westfield State University Sports
