SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – April 25, 2007 – Clark University used the long ball very effectively in defeating Smith College, 11-8, in a first round New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference softball tournament game this afternoon at soggy Potter Field on the campus of Springfield College.

With the win, Clark raised its record to 19-14, while Smith fell to 16-17. Clark entered the contest as the tourney’s #4 seed, while Smith entered as the #5 seed. By winning, Clark will now immediately play #1-seeded Springfield in a second-round game at 5 p.m.

There is a new format this season in the NEWMAC Softball Tourney where only the top six teams play, but the tourney is a complete double-elimination. In previous years, the top eight teams played a first-round game, with the first round a single elimination. This year, all six teams are guaranteed to advance to play on Saturday. Smith will now play in a loser’s bracket contest at 10 a.m. Saturday at Springfield.

Clark jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead after one inning. In the bottom of the first, freshman second baseman Lauren Blake (Oakland, Me.) led off with a walk. She advanced on a sacrifice, a ground out, and later scored on the front end of a double steal for the game’s first run. With two outs and two walks later, freshman pitcher Melissa Traft helped her own cause with a three-run home run to left field.

The Cougars kept up the pace with three more in the third inning. Junior shortstop Heather Warren (Upland, Calif.) led off with a double. One out later, she was singled in by freshman first baseman Joanna Clark (Windham, Me.). With two outs, freshman DP Darcy Kurashige-Elliott (Berkeley, Calif.) then homered to make it 7-0, Clark.

Through five innings, Traft was sailing along with a 6-hit shutout. But Smith was far from rolling over. The Pioneers sent 10 women up to the plate in the sixth, with Clark lucky to surrender only five runs.

Senior second baseman Chloe Pete (Beaverton, Ore.) singled to open up the sixth. She moved up on a wild pitch and moments later came around to score on a single by senior left fielder Debbie Sasges (Vancouver, B.C.). After a ground out, six of the next seven runners reached. Highlights included an RBI-single by junior shortstop Kate Schoenen (Ellicot City, Md.), a two-run home run by junior catcher Taryn Pestalozzi (Troutdale, Ore.), and an RBI-double by freshman third baseman Megan Kiefer (Oak Park, Ill.). It could have been worse, but on a ball-four wild pitch, a Smith runner was out at the plate on a controversial call for the third out of the inning.

Clark, however, came right back with four runs in the bottom of the sixth. Blake knocked one in with a single. Warren then hit a three-run blast to put the Cougars up, 11-5. All three Clark home runs, which produced eight runs, came with two outs.

Smith was not quite through, though. Following a walk and a ground out, Smith belted four straight singles, including RBI singles by Schoenen, Pestalozzi, and sophomore DP Erin Quinn (Northbrook, Ill.). That cut it to 11-8, and brought the tying run to the plate with one out. But the final two Smith batters flied to center to end it.

Traft picked up the victory for the Cougars, while sophomore Emily Hiltzik (Westbury, N.Y.) took the loss for the Pioneers.

For Clark, Blake was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a walk. Warren was 2-for-4 with three RBI’s, a home run, and two runs scored. Traft was 1-for-3 with three RBI’s, a home run, and two runs scored. And Kurashige-Elliott was 1-for-2 with a home run, two RBI’s, a walk, and two runs scored.

Smith, meanwhile, had 16 hits, twice as many as Clark. Pete was 2-for-3 with one run scored and a walk. Schoenen was 3-for-4 with one RBI, and one run scored. Sophomore first baseman Crystal Fryer (Louisville, Ky.) was 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Pestalozzi was 3-for-4 with a home run, three RBI’s, and a run scored. And Quinn was 2-for-4 with a run scored.

published: 04/25/2007