Owls Rally to Split Twinbill With Worcester in 11th inning

WESTFIELD, Mass.  –  Westfield State softball finally got the game-winning run in the 11^th inning of game 2 to squeeze out a doubleheader split at Worcester State on Tuesday afternoon.

Westfield fell 12-1 in the first game, and snatched a 9-7 win in game 2.   The Owls are now 14-5-1 overall and 3-1 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference, while the Lancers are 13-8 and 3-1 in the league.

In the nightcap, the two teams went to extra innings tied at 5-5. Neither team could muster a run before going to the international tiebreaker in the 10^th inning, where both teams plated a single run, Westfield's when Alyssa Clark singled up the middle to score tiebreaker runner Mia Alfonso from second to grab a 6-5 lead before Worcester equalized in the bottom half of the inning.

In the top of the 11^th, Westfield scored three times, on RBI base hits from Jordyn Lummus and Hannah Wodecki, and a sac fly from Sarah Hough.

In the bottom half of the inning, Owls starter Stephanie Scoville (W, 7-2) allowed the tiebreaker runner to score from second, then worked around an error in the inning to prevent any further damage and close out the win.   Scoville pitched all 11 innings, scattering 15 hits and five earned runs, walking one and striking out five.

Wodecki finished with four hits in six at bats and drove in three runs.

In the opener, the Lancers unloaded for six runs off Owls starter Katherine Canty (L, 2-1) in the third inning, which included a grand slam home run from Abigail Koziol.   Worcester starter Emily Bartlett allowed just four hits in earning the win.

The Owls will be back in action tomorrow, hosting WNE in a non-conference doubleheader with a 3:30 p.m. start.