Coast Guard Survives Softball Elimination Game

The Coast Guard Academy softball team survived an opening double elimination round  against Wellesley College in the NEWMAC tournament on Tuesday while the Bears fell to New York University in men's tennis. The following information was provided by Jason Southard, sports information director at the Coast Guard Academy:

Softball: Coast Guard 5, Wellesley 2; Wellesley 14, Coast Guard 10

Sixth-seeded Coast Guard beat third-seeded Wellesley 5-2 before falling to second-seeded Babson 14-10 in the opening day of the double elimination New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) tournament.

Coast Guard will now play WPI on Saturday at noon in an elimination game at top-seeded Springfield College.

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Junior Holly Bastinck hit a three-run home run in the top of the first inning and senior pitcher Hayley Feindel went the distance without allowing an earned run as the Bears won the opener 5-2.

The Bears’ offense gave Feindel all the support she would need in the top of the first inning, as sophomore Devin Fellman and freshman Jesse Richardson both recorded singles and Bastinck followed with a towering home run to center for an early 3-0 advantage. It was Bastinck’s sixth round-tripper of the season and the three RBI’s gave her 100 for her career.

Wellesley would get an unearned run back in home half of the inning, as senior Rachael Goldenberg reached on an error, moved to second on a bunt, advanced to third on a single to center by junior Kimberly Cabral and scored on the Bears' second defensive miscue of the inning.

Coast Guard struck again in the top of the second, beginning when senior Jamie Kim led off with a double to left center and took third on a sacrifice bunt by freshman Erin Lisko. Wellesley junior starter Sarah Schwartzmeyer then recorded a key strikeout for the second out of the frame, but senior Maddie Buchert followed with a clutch RBI-single down the left field line to make it 4-1 in favor of the Bears.

Wellesley once again made it a two-run contest with another unearned run in the bottom of the second. Freshman Emilyrose Havrilla singled to center with one out, stole second, and scored on an error.

However, that would be all the Blue would manage again Feindel (14-7), who pitched out of trouble in the fourth and fifth en route to the complete-game victory. The All-American righthander went seven innings and allowed two runs - both unearned - on five hits, walked one and struck out six.

In addition to her first-inning homer, Bastinck added a single in the fifth, when she eventually scored on a single by freshman Chloe Harmon to cap the Coast Guard scoring. The junior finished the game 2-for-4 with two runs and three driven in, while Fellman went 2-for-3 in the winning effort.

Schwartzmeyer (5-5) took the loss for the Blue after allowing four runs in two innings of work. Sophomore Lindsay Johnson came on in the third and went five innings, allowing no earned runs on four hits, walking three and fanning five.

The second game was a wild back-and-forth affair as the teams exchanged blows until Babson trailing 8-7 scored seven runs in the bottom of the sixth to put the game away. Senior captain Nicole Latini hit a grand slam to highlight the seven-run sixth inning.

The Bears jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first, as Fellman led off with a double, took third on a sacrifice bunt by Buchert and scored on a single over the head of the third baseman by Richardson. That lead held until the bottom of the second, when Babson sophomore Sam Pilkington launched a deep fly to right that bounced off the top of the fence and carried over for her fifth home run of the season to even the contest at 1-1.

Coast Guard regained the advantage in the third, scoring twice after two were out. Richardson started the rally off with a single to left, Bastinck followed with a walk, and sophomore Kaitlin Ward and Harmon each recorded back-to-back RBI-singles to give the visitors a 3-1 lead.

The Beavers answered in the home half of the third, beginning when junior Jackie Enos reached on a two-base error with one out. Two batters later, junior captain Catie Funk drew a two-out walk, setting up a double down the right field line by Latini that scored both runners and tied the contest at 3-3.

The Bears took the lead again in the fourth, when Fellman drew a two-out walk and scored all the way from first on a double to right-center by Buchert. Richardson then followed with a base hit to left, scoring Buchert to give Coast Guard a 5-3 advantage midway through the ballgame.

Errors cost the visitors the lead again in the bottom of the fourth, as the Bears' second miscue of the day led to four unearned runs against Feindel. After three straight singles by senior captain Jess Pashos, Funk, and Latini loaded the bases with one out, an error allowed Pashos to score Babson's fourth run of the day on a fielder's choice grounder by Pilkington. Junior Kelly King then drove in another run with an RBI-groundout to second, and junior Ashleigh Phelps followed with a two-run single to left-center to give Babson its first lead of the day, 7-5.

Coast Guard surged ahead again in the sixth, as Fellman doubled and Buchert singled to put runners on the corners. Richardson then hit an infield single to plate Fellman, and, after the next two batters were retired, Harmon laced a two-run single to right, putting the Bears back in front, 8-7.

Babson finally put the game out of reach in the bottom of the sixth, erupting for seven runs on five hits and another Coast Guard error. Freshman Lindsey Schmid got things started with a pinch-hit single to center, and, after a sacrifice bunt by senior Kayla Davis, Enos smacked an RBI-double to right-center to tie the game at 8-8. After Pashos reached on an error and funk drew a walk to load the bases, Latini hit the grand slam to center - her fifth homer of the year - to give the Beavers a 12-8 lead. Two batters later, King singled up the middle and Phelps followed with her second home run of the spring to left, pushing the Babson lead to 14-8.

The Bears made one final push in the seventh, as Bastinck drilled a two-run single to center to score junior pinch-hitter Meghan Cook, who was hit by a pitch with one out, and Buchert, who had singled with two down. However, freshman pitcher Meghan Hayes induced a game-ending comebacker to finally secure the 14-10 Babson win.

Sophomore Tess Rubega started and went 3 2/3 innings in a no-decision for Babson, allowing four runs on five hits and two walks. Hayes (7-4) came on in the fourth and went the final 3 1/3 innings and earned the win, giving up six runs on eight hits, walking one and striking out a pair.

After tossing a complete-game victory against third-seeded Wellesley earlier in the day, Feindel (14-8) pitched far better than the final score showed for Coast Guard. The All-American righthander, pitching with a broken finger, went all six innings, allowing 14 runs - only five of which were earned - on 11 hits, walked four and struck out eight.

Latini led Babson at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double, a homer, two runs, and six RBIs. Phelps finished the day 2-for-4 with a run and four driven in, while Enos, Pashos, and Pilkington each had a hit, two runs, and one RBI. Funk also had a strong game for the Beavers, going 1-for-1 with three walks and three runs scored.

Richardson went 4-for-4 with two runs and three RBIs to pace Coast Guard, while Buchert went 3-for-4 with a double, three runs scored, and one knocked in. Fellman also scored three times in a 2-for-4 effort with two doubles, and Harmon went 2-for-4 with three RBIs.

Men's Tennis: NYU 6, Coast Guard 3

The Coast Guard Academy men's tennis team travelled to NY to play a young and talented New York University. The Violets, ranked #15 in the northeast, won the contest 6-3.

NYU dominated the #3 doubles winning 8-0, but senior co-captains Nick Martin and Greg Mitchell made a close contest at #1 losing to junior co-captain Connor Witty and sophomore Steven Wu 8-6. Junior Blake Maurer and sophomore Josh Fischer won an even closer contest at #2 doubles 9-7 over freshmen pair Ting Yee Lai and William Smithline.

The Bears picked up their other two points at #3 singles and #4 singles. Martin won 5-7, 6-3, 10-4 over another freshman, C.J. Leong. Maurer beat sophomore James Dean 6-4, 6-1.

The 10-6 Bears (3-1 in the NEWMAC) play again Wednesday, hosting Clark in the final regular season NEWMAC match. The outcome determines #2 and #3 seeding for this weekend’s post season conference tournament to be held at MIT.