Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

BIDDEFORD, Maine -- The University of New England defeated Wentworth Institute of Technology by scores of 8-4 and 9-0 (5 innings) to begin the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) softball season on Tuesday afternoon (Mar. 24) at Claude Dubois Field.

Big Blue (6-6, 2-0 CCC) has now won 11 straight contests against the Leopards (0-8, 0-2 CCC).

Sophomore Paige Moore-Haskell led the 24-hit attack with five singles over the doubleheader, to go with four runs batted in and three runs scored. Juniors Amanda Vallante, Abby Lambert, and Meghan Bolano each tallied three hits on the day while combining for seven RBI.

Senior Adrienne Chase, juniors Kelly Murphy and Mollie Bartles, and sophomore Sydney Helmbrecht all recorded a pair of hits and accounted for eight runs scored.

Junior Sara Pelkey and sophomore Katelyn Austin registered the wins in the circle.

For Wentworth, senior Sam Curran and first-year Megan Berryman each had three hits during the twinbill.

The Nor'easters plated three in the 1st inning of game one, but the Leopards got a pair back in the top of the 2nd when first-year Anna Hall put a one-out double into right-center.

After UNE went ahead 4-2 in the 4th, WIT tied things in its next time up. In the last half of the 5th, Lambert put the hosts back in front for good with a one-out single to left-center that sent Murphy around to score.

Big Blue doubled its cushion (8-4) in the 6th when Chase put a one-out triple to the fence in right to score one, and then Murphy lofted a sacrifice fly to center, allowing Chase to tag and come in.

Pelkey went six innings to level her record at 1-1, before Lambert retired Wentworth in the 7th.

Hall and first-year Vanessa Weymouth had two hits apiece in the outing for WIT. Curran took the loss in the circle.

In game two, the Nor'easters again started quickly, scoring a trio of runs in the bottom of the 1st. An infield single off the bat of Moore-Haskell managed to get Helmbrecht home from third base, and Bolano later roped a two-out, bases-loaded double into the gap in left-center.

UNE sent 11 batters to the dish in the 2nd on the way to a 9-0 advantage. Big Blue had six hits, two walks, and capitalized on a lead-off error in the inning.

Austin capped the scoring with a two-out, RBI-single up the middle, and then got back to work on her five-inning shutout from the rubber. She allowed five hits and one free pass while striking out five.

Junior Siobhan Baker was charged with the loss in the circle for Wentworth.

Both squads return to action on Thursday at home, with the Nor'easters facing the University of Southern Maine (3 p.m.) and the Leopards entertaining Massachusetts Maritime Academy (3:30 p.m.).