The softball team traveled to face local foe Eastern Connecticut State for a doubleheader on Wednesday, April 16. The Cardinals fought Eastern Conn. all the way to the end in the first game before coming up short. Then, in the second game, they were promptly trounced and lost by the mercy rule in six innings.
In the first game, Su Pardo ’16 took the mound for Wesleyan. She earned a loss in the start, allowing two runs on nine hits over the course of her 6.1 innings. However, she also struck out seven and held the Eastern Conn. offense to just one run heading into the final inning.
Amanda Roosa ’16 went 3-3 in her return to the lineup after an injury kept her sidelined for seven games. Roosa’s performance stood out on an otherwise quiet day for the Wesleyan offense. The Cardinal offense mustered just five hits over the course of the game, and it also entered the seventh inning having scored just one run after Angelina Massoia ’17 scored following her double and a throwing error.
Roosa opened the top of the seventh for the Cardinals with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. However, the offense was unable to capitalize on the opportunity; the next three batters were retired in order on a strikeout and two groundouts.
Pardo stayed in for the bottom of the seventh and quickly worked herself into a jam. She allowed a double to the first hitter she faced, and then a bunt single from the next batter put runners on the corners with nobody out. Pardo struck out the next batter she faced, but the fourth Eastern Conn. batter of the inning laid down a sacrifice bunt. The throw home was late, and Eastern Conn. pushed across its second run of the game for a walk-off win.
Wesleyan had little time to deal with the disappointment of such a close loss, as the second game was scheduled to start just two hours after the first had ended.
The back end of the doubleheader featured Roosa taking the mound for her first pitching outing since her injury. Roosa started off slowly, allowing three runs on four hits, but then regained control over the next two innings, holding Eastern Conn. to just three more runs until the fourth inning.
The Cardinal hitters, for their part, kept things close through the fourth. Jill Gately ’15 doubled to drive in Jamie Hom ’17 in the top of the first. Hom later singled in the top of the third, driving in Mollie Grunat ’16 for the Cardinals’ second run of the game. However, things fell apart for both Roosa and the offense in the fourth.
Wesleyan was held to just two hits through the rest of the game, and Eastern Conn. started hitting Roosa again in the bottom of the fourth, where it earned three runs on a two RBI triple and a sacrifice fly to left. Roosa never quite regained control, allowing 4 more runs over the next two innings for a total of 10 earned through her 5.1 innings. Racking up 15 hits over that time, Eastern Conn. was able to win by the mercy rule when it extended its lead to 10-2 on an infield single in the bottom of the sixth.
Eastern Conn. is not a NESCAC team, so these losses do not affect the Cardinals’ playoff chances. Wesleyan still has a mathematical shot at the postseason, but the team will likely have to sweep Williams in its upcoming three-game set and secure a victory when it resumes its suspended game with Amherst in order to do so. Williams, with its 5-1 NESCAC record, and Amherst, which stands at 4-4, will be imposing obstacles for the Rebirds moving forward.