Softball Sweeps (Again!) 9-1 and 8-0 Over Anna Maria

WESTFIELD, Mass.    –  'It's a game of inches."

Westfield State first-year pitcher Angelina Vartuli (W, 1-2) missed throwing a perfect game by inches, and the Owls hit three home runs in the doubleheader as a Westfield State scored a pair of eight-run rule victories over Anna Maria.

Westfield was a 9–1 winner in game one, and won 8 -0 in game two In the nightcap as Vartuli finished with a shutout one-hitter and nine strikeouts.  Vartuli was dealing through the first four innings and struck out the leadoff hitter in the fifth.

Some unusual circumstance surrounded the lone hit, as Owls' starting catcher Christina Ciampa exited the game after taking a foul tip from the hitter.  After the exchange of catchers, the AmCats' Kiki Hicks singled to right field on a flare that dropped just inches in front of onrushing Owls' right fielder Rachel Brewer-Karimi to break up the perfect game bid.    Vartuli induced a fielder's choice and struck out the final hitter she faced, as the Owls would push across the game-ending eighth run in the bottom half of the inning.

Riley Camacho tripled home one run in the fifth, and Caroline O'Donnell followed with an RBI single to give the Owls the 8-0 win.  Camacho was three for three at the plate for the Owls with two runs scored, and O'Donnell had a pair of hits  including the walk-off game winner.  Mia Alfonso hit a 2-run home run for the Owls in the bottom of the first inning as she was caught off-balance on a pitch and hooked a high fly ball just over the left field fence.

In game one Westfield State got home runs from Hannah Wodecki, and Abby Clark.

Wodecki lofted a high fly to left in the fourth inning for a 2-run homer, and Clark's home run was one of the longest ever hit to right field at Sullivan field, as the line shot  ricocheted off of the trees about halfway up, beyond the right centerfield fence in the fifth for a solo home run.

Joss Mettey (W, 4-0) started and picked up the pitching win for the Owls.

Alfonso finished with three hits, and Sarah Hough and Clark each added a pair of hits.

Anna Maria (5-6) will join the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference as a full member next year, and become a regular fixture on the Owls' schedule.

Westfield State improves to 14-2 on the season and is off to one of the best starts to a season in program history.

Westfield will open its 2025 conference play on Saturday, March 29, hosting Mass Maritime Academy in a doubleheader that starts at 12 noon.

Anna Maria will next travel to Bay Path on Friday.