Game 1 Statistics
Game 2 Statistics
Photos

BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Mo Kinsella and the University of New England defense registered a 2-0 shutout of Suffolk University in the nightcap of a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) softball doubleheader on Monday (Apr. 15) at Nor'easter Diamond. In the opener, the Rams gave up a five-run lead but managed to get the win in extras, 7-6 (8 innings).

It was the first time UNE has held an opponent off of the scoreboard since last postseason -- an elimination game, also against Suffolk.

The Nor'easters move to 8-18 overall and 4-4 in league play, while the Rams now sit at 14-16 on the year and 5-5 versus conference foes.

On the day, Grace Tutt and Delaney Whitten totaled three hits for the hosts, while Elise Connor and Abigail Prokey recorded hits in each match. For Suffolk, Ella Turnbull led all players with four hits, and Catherine Carignan added three.

Kinsella picked up her fifth victory with the complete-game effort in GAME 2 (UNE 2-0), fanning four against five hits. The only two walks she issued led off the 1st and 7th innings, and the defense around her was ready to support both times, as the ensuing batters lined into double-plays [Watch 1st / Watch 7th]. Even more threatening was the second and third with one out in the 4th, but two popouts ended that chance. And in the 6th, there were two aboard with just one gone, again, before Kinsella used the next 11 pitches to finish striking out the side [Watch].

The Nor'easters took the lead with two away in the last half of the 3rd, as singles by Tutt and Whitten set up Connor to pull one that tipped off the outstretched glove the third baseman and into left field [Watch]. Then, in the 5th, a two-out wild pitch with the bases loaded allowed Jaiden McKenna to touch the plate and make it 2-0.

Turnbull had two doubles in the contest for Suffolk. Rams starting pitcher Ashlyn Conley took the loss, exiting the game after Tutt's second hit during the 5th.

The deciding run in GAME 1 (SUF 7-6) came with one out in the top of the 8th on single by Maddie Southers. Suffolk relief pitcher Cynthia Rucinski then stranded a couple of UNE runners in scoring position by sealing things with her third strikeout.

The Nor'easters had trailed, 6-1, heading into the bottom of the 5th, before a single by Fiona Casey and double from Tutt made it so that the ensuing groundout was able to sneak one across. Connor followed with a RBI-double and the margin was 6-3 [Watch]. It stayed that way until the 7th, when a walk and error set the stage for a two-run double into the right-center gap by Whitten [Watch]. Another Suffolk miscue on the play let Whitten get over to third, and an eventual sacrifice fly by Abby Walsh was enough for Whitten to come in with the tying run (6-6).

The first of two hits and three runs scored by Casey came in the 1st to give UNE a 1-0 edge, as Whitten's first double notched the RBI [Watch].

In the 3rd, the Rams got a unearned run to knot the score. Run-scoring doubles from Bella Rocha-Medeiros and Carignan put the visitors ahead, 3-1, in the 4th, and then it was 4-1 in the 5th when Rocha-Medeiros guided a two-run single into right-center.

UNE's third pitcher of the game, Liv Arvidson, worked three solid innings and only allowed the unearned run in the 8th, but was charged with the setback.

Next up: After a busy stretch, the Nor'easters get the next four days off before heading to league-leading Endicott College on Saturday.