Vikings Sweep on Senior Day

SALEM, Mass. – Salem State softball welcomed the Trailblazers from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) for their regular season finale, where they honored their six seniors in between games. The Vikings took the first game in walk off fashion (3-2) before completing the sweep with the 4-3 victory in the second game. The sweep improved the Vikings to 13-24 overall and 7-7 in conference action.  

Game One

• The Trailblazers got on the board first after a sacrifice fly in the top of the third gave them the 1-0 tilt followed by a single to center field an inning later that would double their lead.
• The Vikings were able to use a Dawn Eisnor (Medford, Mass.) double and a duo of walks to bring around their first run of the game and make it a 2-1 game after six innings.
• In the home half of the seventh inning a pass ball brought the game timing run home for the Vikings. However, a strikeout would follow leaving two runners on base to force extra innings.
• In the eighth frame, lead off batter Mackenzie DeSantis (Ridge, N.Y.) got on base with a single before being replaced by pinch runner, Isabelle Besser (Scituate, R.I.) who would find herself in scoring position with Payton Jeffers (Holly Ridge, N.C.) up to bat. Jeffers would pull out the heroics with a bunt that would bring Besser home and solidify the Vikings' 3-2 victory.

Game Two

• The Vikings found success in the opening frame after a hit from Samantha Gaona (Billerica, Mass.) and a sacrifice fly from Eisnor brought around two runs for the early 2-0 lead.
• MCLA would cut the Vikings' lead in half in the third before DeSantis regained the Vikings' two-run cushion with an RBI single.
• The Vikings added to their tally in the sixth when a Besser single brought Paige Souza (New Bedford, Mass.) home to put her squad ahead, 4-1.
• The Trailblazers rallied in the seventh when three hits brought around two runs, but the Vikings would strand a runner on base when Gaona turned a double play to end the inning and the game at 4-3 in the Vikings' favor.

Noteworthy

• Jeffers' two RBI's in game one are a season high for the senior.
• Four different Vikings were responsible for the four runs that crossed the plate in game two.
• After taking both games from MCLA this afternoon, this marks the third conference sweep of the season for the Vikings.
• In between games the Vikings honored their six seniors: Stephanie Grassi (Cambridge, Mass.), Katherine Quigley (Ipswich, Mass.), Emily Carter (Warwick, R.I.), Payton Jeffers, Mackenzie DeSantis, and Hailey Langenfeld (Hardyston, N.J.).