MCLA Sweeps Bay Path

North Adams, MA – On a wet afternoon in the Berkshires, MCLA (4-10) played host to non-conference Bay Path College (2-7). The unfavorable conditions made for some challenging play resulting in a combine 21 errors. The Trailblazers were slow to start in game one but pulled it out half way through. Again in game two, MCLA was challenged by the visitors but timely hitting led them to a sweep on the afternoon.

In game one, Bay Path jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning capitalizing off of three MCLA errors. Sarah Gates (Crown Point, IN) lead off the game with a triple and crossed the plate after Sarah Wright (Canterbury, NH) reached on an error. The Wildcats added to their lead in the second with two more runs taking a 5-0 lead, but that would be all they could muster in game one. Then Hadley Ameen (North Adams, MA) entered in the top of the third taking over for Jen McMurray (Margaretville, NY), quieted the Wildcat bats, and closed them out for the rest of the game.

Bay Path pitcher Jess Nizinski (West Springfield, MA) kept the Trailblazers at bay until the bottom of the forth. After a quiet three innings, Amber Coburn (Colrain, MA) led off the forth with her teams first homer of the season; she finished 3-4 and a double short of the cycle. MCLA’s leading hitter Rachel Desautels (Readsboro, VT) followed with a triple. She crossed the plate on Kayla Koumijan’s (Watervliet, NY) single up the middle. After a four hit inning the Trailblazer closed the gap to 3-5.

Ameen kept Bay Path quiet once again in the top of the fifth and her team supported her scoring one more run closing the gap to 4-5 in favor of the Wildcats. Then in the bottom of the six, the Trailblazers finally settled in for good earning four runs bringing the score to 8-5 in their favor. Katie Oultette (Norwood, MA) led off the sixth with a single and scored the tieing run off a triple by Koumijan. After a wild pitch, the score turned in favor of the Trailblazers who took the lead for good. Ameen closed out the Wildcats in the top of the seventh, pitched five hitless innings, and earned her second win of the season.

In game two, the Trailblazers jumped out to a 6-0 lead after three innings. In the last three innings the two teams combine for 23 runs, and the game was called an inning early due to the wet conditions and darkness.

In their half of the forth, the Wildcats caught up with Ameen and collected four unanswered runs to close the gap to 6-4 in favor of the hosts. In the bottom half of the inning and behind a three-run homer by Desautels, the Trailblazers brought their lead back up to 9-4.

With an MCLA pitching change and worsening conditions, Bay Path collected seven runs in the top of the fifth taking an 11-9 lead. They were able to capitalize on a couple Trailblazer errors that resulted in five unearned runs. Ameen would re-enter late in the inning after the damage was done to close out the Wildcats.

In the bottom half of the fifth the Trailblazers battled back and were helped by three Wildcat errors that allowed for six unearned runs. Desautels struck again knocking in two runs while scoring another. She finished the game going 3-4, knocking in seven, and crossing the plate after all four of her at bats. She now leads her team with a .487 batting average and a .795 slugging percentage.

As the light grew dim, the Wildcats had one last chance to earn a spilt. They made it interesting when they loaded the bases with two outs. It looked as if the day was done, but no one told Gates that when she drove a ball deep to center field clearing the bases. With the tieing run on third, Ameen dug deep and finished the game off with a strikeout and her third win of the season.