WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State softball got strong pitching performances from Katherine Canty (Natick, Mass.) and Stephanie Scoville (Northfield, Mass./Pioneer Valley) as the Owls held off Keene State, 5-4 in 8 innings and 2-0 in a non-conference doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon.
Scoville (W, 3-4) went the distance in a gritty game 1 win, while Canty tossed a six-hit shutout at Keene while striking out nine and walking none.
In the opener, Westfield trailed 4-2 in the fifth, when senior 3B Meghan Doyle (Marshfield, Mass.) delivered a two-run single to left center field to tie the game at 4-4.
Scoville did the job from there with the help of the defense. With one out and two on in the seventh Owls leftfielder Jordyn Lummus (Pittsfield, Mass.) threw out the potential go-ahead run at the plate, as Megan Moran (Cherry Valley, Mass./St. Peter Marian) flew out to Lummus, who took a couple steps in to catch the ball, then fired a strike to the plate where Christina Ciampa (Rockville, Conn./Vernon-Rockville) tagged out Keene's Faith Barbieri (Wallingford, Conn./Lyman Hall) as she tried to tag and score from third.
In the top of the eighth with the tiebreaker in effect, Keene moved the runner to third with a groundout to second, but Scoville induced a pop up to third and an foul out to first to keep the game tied.
Scoville allowed seven hits and four walks while striking out two in the win.
In the bottom half of the inning, Ciampa sacrificed tiebreak runner Alex Czarkosky (Cheshire, Conn.) to third, and with two out Lindsay Cordopatri (Walpole, Mass.) laced a hard base hit to right to score Cazrkosky and give the Owls a walk off win.
In the nightcap, Canty (W, 2-4) shut Keene State down, without a runner advancing to third base until the seventh inning. She struck out nine, eight swinging, including Keene's Sara Cote to end the game with runners on first and third.
Westfield got all the offense they needed in the fifth inning with Megan Metzger (Uxbridge, Mass./Blackstone) and Cordopatri reaching on singles, and both came around to score on Colleen Hughes' (Hanson, Mass.) base hit to right field.
Hughes finished 2-3 in game 2 and 2-4 in game 1, pushing her batting average to an even .500 on the season, with 36 hits in 72 at bats. She's driven in 25 runs in 23 games played.
Cordopatri added five hits in the doubleheader to boost her average to .441, and Metzger had a pair of hits in the nightcap.
Westfield State improves to 10-14 on the season, while Keene is now 11-13.
For Keene Sara Cote (Lisbon, Conn./NFA) finished 1-1 with a walk, a run scored and a pair of RBI sac flies in the opener, with Kylie Frank (Acton, Mass) going 2-2 with two singles, a walk and two runs scored.
Releiver Carissa Miller (Lee, N.Y./Oyster River) (L, 5-6) took the tough-luck loss after tossing 3.1 innings of relief while yielding three hits, and just the one unearned run in the tiebreaker.
In game 2, Keene's Meghan Blanchette (Hopkinton, N.H.) finished 2-3 with a pair of singles as the only repeat hitter. Starter Lilah Demmy (Wayne, Pa./Radnor) (L, 6-6) took the loss, allowing two runs and eight hits through five innings while striking out one.
Westfield will travel to Worcester State for a MASCAC doubleheader on Friday with a 2:00 p.m. start.
Christina Ciampa tags out Keene's Faith Barbieri in the seventh inning to extend the game. (Nate Moskowitz photo)