Arduini and Hoffman's Big Bats Lead Gulls Past Curry (11-4, 6-0)

MILTON, Mass. – The Endicott softball team downed host Curry College, (11-4, 6-0) Tuesday evening in a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) twin bill at D. Forbes Will Field behind the offensive power of freshman outfielder Hayley Arduini (Southington, Conn.) and senior catcher Emily Hoffman (Malden, Mass).

GAME 1 – Endicott 11, Curry 4

The Gulls opened the game with one run in the top of the first as Arduini drove home sophomore center fielder Casie Beauchemin (Lincoln, R.I.) to plate the Gulls' first run of the day.

The Colonels answered in the bottom of the frame as sophomore center fielder April Adams (Burlington, Mass.) and sophomore designated player Mikayla Lambert (Blackstone, Mass.) scored (both unearned).

Junior first baseman Lexi Pederson (Chandler, Ariz.) tagged at third on junior right fielder Julia McNeill's (Smithtown, N.Y.) sacrifice fly to center to knot the score at 2-2 in the top of the second.

Sophomore catcher Morgan Haaland (Fairhaven, Mass.) gave Curry a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the second as she came around to score on Adams' single to left field in the bottom of the second.

The Gulls tied it up in the third on Arduini's solo blast and went ahead 4-3 in the fourth as Hoffman doubled to right to drive in junior second baseman Chrissy Gikas (Danvers, Mass.) with two outs.

Arduini struck again in the top of the sixth with a grand slam over the center field fence to plate Gikas, McNeill and Hoffman as Endicott busted it open for an 8-3 lead.

Curry didn't go quietly as the Colonels were able to push across one run in the bottom of the sixth as freshman first pinch-runner Talia Forte (North Scituate, R.I.) scored on an error with two outs.

The Gulls tacked on the last three runs as Hoffman walked with the bases loaded, Arduini cranked an RBI single to right field, and sophomore designated player Margaret Martzolf (Port Saint Lucie, Fla.) sent a sacrifice fly into right to score junior left fielder Ilyza Holman (Ashland, Mass.).

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• With the win, the Gulls ended the runs shortage in which they scored a combined two runs in the past 21.0 innings entering today's doubleheader.
• Senior pitcher Courtney Blake (East Islip, N.Y.) tossed her eighth complete-game of the season (6 H, 4 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) and is now tied for second in the conference in wins (8-6).
• Arduini hit her third and fourth home runs of the season for her first career game with multiple dingers and first career grand slam.
• This was the Gulls' first multi-home run game of the season and season-high 11 RBIs as a team.
• Arduini went a career-high 4-for-4 from the dish with one walk, two runs scored, two home runs and a career-high seven RBIs.
• Arduini's seven RBIs in a single game is tied for the all-time program record with JoJo Craig, who achieved the feat on March 29, 2000.
• Gikas registered her third three-hit game of the season.

FOR THE FOES

• Sophomore pitcher Jordan Lizotte (Rehoboth, Mass.) took the loss (3-4) as she lasted five plus innings and allowed six runs (four earned) on nine hits, walked four and struck out one.
• Lambert came on in relief with no outs in the sixth and threw two innings and gave up five runs (four earned) on three hits and walked three.
• Adams led the Colonels with a pair of hits, one RBI and one run scored.

GAME 2 – Endicott 6, Curry 0

In game two, Hoffman put the Gulls on top, 1-0, with a solo shot to left field in the top of the second, followed by sophomore shortstop Kayla Sheldon's (Burlington, Mass.) RBI single to drive in Arduini with the team's second run in the same inning.

Endicott added two more runs in the third inning as Hoffman hammered an RBI triple to right field to plate Gikas and Martzolf singled to right to bring Hoffman around to score.

Martzolf's RBI double to center scored Hoffman to tack on another run in the fifth inning.

Freshman pitcher Laura Somerville (Suffield, Conn.) took a no-hitter into the fifth inning, but sophomore left fielder Carolyn Lynch's (Ipswich, Mass.) double to right field with one out fell for Curry's first hit of the game.

The Gulls pushed across the final run in the top of the seventh on Pederson's RBI groundout to score Hoffman as Endicott earned its fourth shutout victory of the season.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Somerville spun her second career shutout as she improved to 5-3 on the season in the circle as she scattered two hits, walked one, hit one batter, and fanned six batters.
• Hoffman (3-for-3 with one walk, two RBIs, and four runs scored) hit for the cycle in today's doubleheader as she collected an RBI double in game one, before homering to left (2nd inn.) tripling to right (3rd inn.), and singling to right (5th inn.) in game two.
• Hoffman went deep for the first time this season.
• Senior third baseman Samantha DiBella (Danvers, Mass.) and Martzolf each also tallied three hits in the effort.
• The Gulls recorded double-digit hit totals (13) for the ninth time this season.

FOR THE FOES

• Sophomore pitcher Rebecca Black (East Greenwich, R.I.) fell to 1-6 on the season as she surrendered six runs (four earned) on 13 hits, walked one and struck out one.
• Adams recorded the Colonels' only other hit after Lynch's double in the fifth.
• Sophomore first baseman Kevi Otaway (East Hartford, Conn.) drew Curry's lone walk in the game as one of four total base runners for the Colonels
• Sophomore third baseman Rachel Byrd (Hampstead, N.H.) was hit by a pitch in the second inning to become Curry's first batter to reach base in the game).

NOTES

• The Gulls are 36-3-1 overall and 15-2-1 on the road at Curry dating back to April 1, 2000.
• Endicott has won five straight against the Colonels, including a 3-2 CCC Tournament victory on April 30, 2015 in Springfield, Mass. in the most recent meeting before today.
• Today's doubleheader was a make-up date from April 3, 2016.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (15-12, 8-4 CCC) hosts Tufts University on Wednesday, April 20th for a non-conference doubleheader at 3:00/5:00 p.m. at the Softball Field. Curry (11-17, 2-10 CCC) welcomes Wentworth to its campus for a CCC doubleheader on Wednesday, April 20th at 3:30/5:30 p.m. 

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