Owls Bash Six Home Runs to Remain Undefeated in Sweep at Anna Maria

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Allyssa Slack (Westfield, Mass.) crushed a pair of home runs to add to a total of six long balls hit for Westfield State which remained undefeated at 22-0 on the season after a doubleheader sweep of Anna Maria in MASCAC action from Paxton, Mass. on Saturday afternoon.

The Owls used a six-run third inning to secure an eventual 10-1 victory in five innings in game one, then Angelina Vartuli (Middletown, Conn.) allowed just one hit and fanned eight across six innings in the circle for game two as the Owls broke a scoreless stalemate in the fifth to cruise to an 8-0 result to secure the sweep.

Westfield State, which entered the day receiving votes in the NFCA/GoRout Division III top 25 coaches' poll for the second consecutive week, advance to a flawless 22-0 on the season and 6-0 in the MASCAC. Anna Maria slides to 10-14 overall and 2-6 in the conference.

The Owls launched three home runs in a run-rule game one win with Westfield tallying all ten runs across the third and fourth innings. Arielle Ostman (Woodbury, Minn.) and Rylie Camacho (Attleboro, Mass.) both reached base to set up Hannah Wodecki (Southampton, Mass.) with a RBI single to open the scoring.

An AMCATS error allowed the second run to cross the plate before Kassidy LaTour (Lebanon, Conn.) singled to left to score Wodecki for a 3-0 lead. After a double steal which led to another run scoring, Slack punctuated the inning with a two-run blast for her fourth homer of the campaign for a 6-0 Owls advantage.

In the fourth inning, Ostman set the table again with a leadoff single and Sarah Hough (Southwick, Mass.) drove her in two batters later, homering in her third straight game on a two-run blast to leave the yard and extend the lead to eight runs. Wodecki kept the line moving with a single, then Mia Alfonso (Dalton, Mass.) ambushed the first pitch of the at bat for a two-run long ball, the Owls third two-run homer of game one to put the game well out of reach.

Joss Mettey (Easthampton, Mass.) got the start in game one and allowed one run over three innings to move to 7-0 in the circle, then Shayna Bakun (Princeton, Mass.) followed in relief for two scoreless frames in relief.

Makena Lovelette pitched game one for the AMCATS and was tagged with the loss after allowing ten runs on eight hits in five innings.

Game two remained scoreless until the fifth inning where the Owls bats heated up with Slack crushing a two-run homer followed by a sacrifice fly later in the inning by Camacho for a 3-0 lead. In the sixth, three more runs crossed the plate with Camacho connecting for Westfield's fifth homer of the day to expand the cushion to seven runs. Wodecki added another run in the seventh on a solo shot which was the Owls sixth long fly ball of the game and 18^th as a team in 22 games.

The eight runs were more than enough for Vartuli as the AMCATS only put two runners in scoring position all game. In the fourth inning, a one-out triple by Mae McGowan threatened to put Anna Maria in front, but Vartuli worked out of the danger with a pop out and ground out. With the win, Vartuli advances to 6-0 on the year.

Hough currently leads the MASCAC with 30 RBI after two in game one. The Owls have four of the top five home run leaders in the league with Slack moving into a tie for first with five and is also second in RBI at 27.

Westfield State sets their sites on another MASCAC opponent on Tuesday as the Owls visit MCLA (4-2 MASCAC) for a doubleheader starting at 3:00 P.M.