Mariners Advance In Softball Tournament

Mitchell College, seeded second in the New England Collegiate Conference Softball Championship, defeated seventh-seeded Becker College 3-1 on Wednesday. The following information was provided by David Longolucco, sports information director at Mitchell College:

Mitchell (20-13 overall, 16-2 NECC) extended its winning streak to 13 games behind a strong pitching performance by senior Marissa Thomas (New London, Conn./Saint Bernard), who allowed only one unearned run on four hits. She improved to 10-7 overall on the season.

Mitchell advances to double-elimination play hosted by top-seeded Lesley University and played at Wellesley College on Friday through Sunday. The Mariners will face third-seeded Daniel Webster College on Friday at noon.

Becker (10-29 overall, 7-11 NECC) produced the game’s first run in the second inning. Melissa Rhodes (Mendon, Mass./Nipmuc Regional) reached base on a throwing error to lead things off and moved to second when Megan Cordon (Watertown, Conn./Watertown) was hit by a pitch. Rhodes eventually took third base on a line out and later scored on a foul out to right field by Shawna Drown (Watertown, Tenn./Essex Aggie).

Mitchell answered right back with three runs in the bottom of the second, all courtesy of the long ball. Junior Megan Burke (Bronx, N.Y./Preston) and freshman Dylan Riccardi (Elmont, N.Y./Sewanhaka) connected for back-to-back homers, each putting a shot over the left field fence. Burke’s blast was a two-run job that scored senior Nikki Hoxie (Winsted, Conn./Gilbert School), who led off the inning with a single to right field.

The lead was more than enough for Thomas, who didn’t allow another Becker base runner past second base the rest of the way. The Hawks put two runners on with only one out in the fifth, but Thomas worked her way out of trouble by striking out the final two batters of the frame. She fanned six in the game and issued only one walk.

Cordon (6-16 overall) took the loss inside the circle for the Hawks despite a solid outing. She allowed only four hits and struck out four over 6.0 innings of work. Cordon also had two of her team’s four hits.

Burke’s home run was her second of the season and sixth of her career. Riccardi went deep for the first time in her collegiate career.