Softball Splits with MCLA in Season Finale

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – Salem State softball concluded their 2023 season with a road trip to North Adams, Massachusetts to take on the Trailblazers of MCLA. In two high-scoring showings, the Vikings and Trailblazers split on the day with Salem taking game one, 16-8, before MCLA answered in game two with the 18-8 victory. The Vikings will graduate Isabella Perrotti (Winthrop, Mass.), Rebecca Walker (Lynn, Mass.), and Hannah Magee (Salem, Mass.).

Game One:

• Both squads were able to bring one run around in the opening inning to bring the game to a 1-1 stalemate until the bottom of the third when Maggie Closinski (Rome, N.Y.) singled to center field to bring a runner home to give the Trailblazers their first lead of the afternoon (2-1).
• The Trailblazer's lead was short lived as the Vikings added more runs to their total, with half of them coming from a Walker single that brought two runners' home, to give Salem the 5-2 edge.
• MCLA would use the home half of the fifth inning to tie the game at five apiece before a pitchers' duel ensued throughout the sixth inning.
• The Vikings would see their best inning of the year in the top of the seventh when they exploded for 11 runs off eight hits, with two of those hits coming from Sydney Rodriguez (Brighton, Colo.), to take the commanding 16-5 lead.
• MCLA would try to rally in the bottom of the seventh, but they would only be able to add three runs before a pop-fly to left field ended the inning and the game, 16-8, in favor of the Vikings.

Game Two:

• Maddison Donovan (Pittsfield, Mass.) hit a two-run single to right center to give the Vikings the early 2-0 lead in the top of the first to start game two. However, this lead would be short lived as two home runs and two doubles highlighted a 12-run opening inning for the Trailblazers to give them the 12-2 lead to head into the second inning.
• Salem wasted no time as they started to chip away in the second inning when a two-run homer from Dawn Eisnor (Medford, Mass.) capped off a five-run inning for the Vikings.
• The Vikings would add another run to their total in the third inning before MCLA further distanced themselves when two hits and a three-run homer gave the Trailblazers the 18-8 advantage.
• Each team would only tack on one more hit before the Trailblazers took the eventual 18-8 victory in five innings.