BOX SCORE

When and Where: May 2, 2017 – Worcester, Mass. (Marois Field)
Score: #4 NE Southern New Hampshire University 10, #3 NE Assumption College 4
Records: SNHU 26-19, Assumption 19-18

Sophomore Erin Garczynski (Norwood, Mass.) finished 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored while junior Sarah Lavallee (Candia, N.H.) went 3-for-5 with four RBI Tuesday, as the Southern New Hampshire University softball team, seeded fourth in the Northeast Division, advanced to the Northeast-10 Conference Championship final weekend with a 10-4 victory over Northeast Division three seed Assumption College.

Senior Devan Rabidou (Ashland, Mass.) tallied a career-high three hits in five at-bats and scored three times and junior Brittany Perdigao (Stoughton, Mass.) was 3-for-3 with an RBI and three runs scored for the Penmen, who rapped out 15 hits in the victory. Freshman Maddy Barone (Halifax, Mass.) earned the win in the circle for Southern New Hampshire after allowing just one hit in three innings of shutout relief. Senior Nicole Gubellini (Salem, N.H.) fired the first four innings and fanned three while scattering six hits and allowing four runs.

The two sides traded blows through the first four innings of the game, and after a scoreless fifth, the Penmen went back to work in the top of the sixth with a two-run stanza. Perdigao slapped a one-out single back up the middle before moving up to second on a sacrifice bunt. Garczynski stepped in next and delivered a clutch, two-out, single into center that broke the four-all stalemate and brought home Perdigao to put Southern New Hampshire ahead, 5-4. A base hit by Lavallee left runners on the corners for senior Jessica Torsiello (Morris Plains, N.J.), and she shot a base knockback through the box to make it 6-4.

SNHU put the game out of reach in the seventh with a four-run inning to up its lead to six. Singles by Rabidou and freshman Erin Tyrell (Milford, N.H.) put runners on the corners for Perdigao, who dropped a squeeze bunt to third. Rabidou broke for the plate and executed a perfect slide around the catcher to push the Penmen lead to three. After a free pass to Garczynski loaded the bases, Lavallee laced a single through the left side of the infield to score Tyrell and Perdigao. Another walk reloaded the bases for freshman Hannah Neverett (Nashua, N.H.), who reached on an infield single that made it 10-4.

Barone returned for the seventh inning and worked around a one-out walk to send Southern New Hampshire to championship weekend.

The Penmen opened the scoring in the top half of the first after benefiting from a pair of Greyhounds' errors. Perdigao reached on an Assumption miscue to lead things off before advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt and a fly out to center. Lavallee stepped in next and hit a hot shot down to third, and after the ball was bobbled, the throw to first skipped in the dirt which rendered Lavallee safe and allowed Perdigao to scamper home with the game's first run.

Assumption attempted to knot the score in the home half of the frame, as Ashley Clark tagged the first pitch she saw to the gap in left-center for a leadoff double. After Gubellini induced a popup to the ensuing hitter, Tyrell laid out to pick a ball ticketed for left field before jumping up to her feet and firing to first for the second out of the frame. Gubellini closed out the inning with a punch out to keep the Penmen in front, 1-0.

Neither side was able to generate any offense in the second, but Southern New Hampshire tacked on an insurance run in the third. Garczynski led off with a base hit into center, and came around to score two batters later when Lavallee tagged a one-out double to the base of the wall in center.

The Greyhounds fought back to tie things up in the third with a pair of runs. Victoria Petrie started things off with an infield single, and after a walk to Cassidy Colby, Clark smacked a double just inside the third base line to push across the first run. Ashley Abad drew a free pass two batters later that loaded the bases before Nicole Duplease was plunked to force in the tying run.

The stalemate would be short-lived, however, as Southern New Hampshire bounced back with two runs in the next half-inning. Rabidou laced a single to center to start the rally before a one-out walk to Tyrell left runners on first and second for Perdigao, who filled the bases with a bunt hit. Junior Katie Horiuchi (Livingston, N.J.) delivered a sacrifice fly to bring in Rabidou with the go-ahead run, and Garczynski followed with a base hit to left that plated Tyrell.

The back-and-forth affair continued in the bottom of the fourth with Assumption resetting the game with two runs of its own. Cassie Schultz led off with a base hit to left and after a walk to Petrie, Colby tagged a triple to the wall in left-center to bring them both home. Gubellini fanned the following batter for the inning's first out before Caitlin Mirabell's grounder was snared by Gubellini and thrown home to retire Colby, who was off on contact. The Greyhounds used a base hit and a hit-by-pitch to load the bases, but Gubellini was able to get the final out on a foul pop out to first.

Torsiello and Neverett each registered a hit and an RBI for Southern New Hampshire, while Tyrell turned in a 1-for-3 performance with a walk and two runs scored.

Kendal Roy suffered the setback in the circle for the Greyhounds, as she was touched up for 10 runs (nine earned) on 14 hits in 6.2 innings of work. Jurnee Serating-Ware surrendered a hit and a walk before setting down the final batter she faced. 

Notes:
- Southern New Hampshire outhit Assumption, 15-8, and played flawless defense while taking advantage of three Greyhounds' errors.
- The Penmen are now 15-1 when they score six or more runs in a game, with the lone setback coming against Assumption on Saturday.
- Southern New Hampshire is making its fifth consecutive championship weekend appearance. The Penmen have advanced to the last three Northeast-10 Conference championship games and bowed out in the semifinals in 2013. 

What's Next:
Southern New Hampshire will take on Pace University, the No. 2 seed in the Southwest Division, on Thursday (May 4) at noon at Merrimack College.

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