Thursday, March 29, 2018

O’Brien ’21 pitches two-hit shutout in softball win over Oswego

Hamilton College split a non-conference doubleheader against SUNY Oswego at Hamilton's Loop Road Softball Complex on Wednesday afternoon. The Continentals fell 11-7 in the first game before shutting out the Lakers 4-0 in the second game.

Hamilton (6-9 overall) totaled 19 hits and nine runs batted in through both games. Oswego moves to 7-5 overall and has its win streak snapped at three games.

The Continentals open their NESCAC West Division schedule with a three-game series against nationally ranked No. 14 Williams College at home this weekend. Hamilton and the Ephs will play a single game on Friday, March 30 at 3:30 p.m. and a noon doubleheader on Saturday.

Game Two: Hamilton 4, Oswego 0

Claire O'Brien '21 got the nod for game two and the first-year pitcher did not disappoint,
commanding the circle from the first inning with three consecutive outs off eight pitches. O'Brien faced just 25 batters as she recorded two strikeouts, two hits and four walks while forcing nine groundouts and seven flyouts.

Helen Lin '19, Sophia Cerreta '20 and Jodi Weiss '19 each had two hits for the Continentals, and Weiss batted in two runs. Caitlin Berreitter '20 walked twice and had one RBI and one stolen base.

Gabriella Vertuccio was the only Oswego batter that managed to hit off O'Brien as she finished 2 for 2 at the plate with one walk. Angela Frampton had four strikeouts and gave up eight hits, three earned runs and two walks.

Hamilton scored one run in the second inning, one in the fourth and two in the fifth en route to the 4-0 victory. Lin scored the eventual winning run in the bottom of the second by way of hitting a single, Oswego error, single by Cerreta and RBI-grounder by Weiss. 

Cerreta came around to score Hamilton's second run of the game in the fourth inning when Berreitter worked a walk with the bases loaded. The Continentals tacked on two insurance runs in the fifth inning off an error and singles from Zoe Singer '18, Lin and Weiss.

The Hamilton defense came up big, time and time again throughout the game. Rebecca Vilchez had a chance to get things started for Oswego in the third inning with a laser of a line drive to center field, but Emily Fraser '19 made the quick adjustment and managed to make the grab behind her head.

O'Brien saved the shutout in the fourth after the pitched ball made its way to the backstop and catcher Ashleah Yzaguirre '19 quickly grabbed the ball and tossed it to O'Brien to tag out the Oswego runner trying to score from third base. Berreitter snagged a one-hopper heading through the hole on the left side of the infield and then chucked the runner out at first in the fifth inning.

Kendall Searcy '20 shut down the left side of the infield in the sixth and seventh innings. The sophomore shortstop turned a 6-3 double play in the sixth followed by a grounder her way for the third out of the inning, and she started another double play in the seventh when she tossed the ball to Phoebe Collins '18 at second base and Collins threw on to an outstretched Lin at first. O'Brien forced a grounder to third base for the final out of the game.

Game One: Oswego 11, Hamilton 7

Oswego scored three runs in the first inning, two in the second, two in the fourth and three in the fifth for a 10-1 lead going into the home half of the fifth inning. In jeopardy of falling to the 8-run mercy rule after five innings, the Hamilton bats came alive with three hits and four runs to cut its deficit in half at 10-5.

Weiss got it started for the Continentals when she was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and two batters later Berreitter was also hit by a pitch to put two runners on with one out. Searcy loaded the bases with a knock to right field, and Fraser reached on a fielder's choice with a force out at home plate for the second out of the inning. Liz Brautigam '19 followed with a two-RBI single to the gap in left center field, and Lin smacked a bomb to the fence in right center field to clear the bases but got caught trying to leg out a triple for out number three.

The Lakers added one run in the sixth inning to extend their lead to 11-5, but Hamilton held them scoreless in the seventh for a comeback attempt in the bottom half of the inning. Collins had a leadoff single and Searcy fouled off two pitches as she battled back for a full count and earned the one-out walk. Fraser then singled up the middle and an error by the right fielder scored Collins, put Searcy at third and Fraser at second. Brautigam hit the ball in play to score Searcy, but Oswego's Vilchez (8 hits, 4 earned runs, two walks) struck out her second batter of the game and forced a grounder back to the pitching circle to earn her fifth win of the season.

Brautigam went 2 for 4 at the plate with three runs batted in and one stolen base for Hamilton. Lin went 1 for 3 with a double, two RBIs, one stolen base and one walk. Fraser batted in one run off one hit and scored a run. Berreitter and Searcy scored two runs apiece, and Berreitter had one stolen base. Dez DePaulis '19 pitched through four innings with seven hits, two earned runs, two strikeouts and two walks for the loss.

Erin Sweeney and Vilchez both went 3 for 5 for Oswego, and Gabriella Veruccio and Carly Lawless added two hits apiece.

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