Roger Walks Off Softball in Eighth in Game One, 4-3

BRISTOL, R.I. – Suffolk softball rallied a comeback, forced extra innings and took the lead in the eighth, but it would not be enough as the Hawks of Roger Williams walked off with the opening game of a Conference of New England (CNE) double header Sunday at Paolino Field. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 3 | Roger Williams 4
RECORDS: Suffolk (14-12, 5-4 CNE) | Roger Williams (14-7, 6-2 CNE) 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• A pair of base hits helped Roger Williams sneak onto the scoreboard in the bottom of the second. McKenzie Foley led off with a singled to left field and stole second to get into scoring position and two batters later Adrianna Amaral's singled up the middle scored her.  
• The Hawks added to their advantage in the bottom of the fourth. Madison Moran led off with a single and advanced to third behind McKenzie Foley's double to center to set-up a sac fly for Kayleigh O'Connor that put the blue-and-gold in a 2-0 hole. 
• Suffolk managed to level the playing field in the top of the fifth. With one out, Roma Braid and Ava Lanza sandwiched singles around a Jolie Quintana walk. A lout out to left off Catherine Carignan plated Braid and moved the runners to second and third. A wild pitcher during Lily Newhall's at bat led Lanza slid the game-tying run home. 
• Roger Williams was able to put the Rams in a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the sixth behind a walk, single and blue-and-gold fielding mishap. Luckily for Suffolk, Newhall's patience and composure came into play as the senior twirler sat Amaral down swinging to keep things locked at 2-all. 
• The Rams had a chance to take their first lead of the day in the seventh. Kendal Heyman singled to get the inning underway and used heads up base running on Braid's sacrifice bunt to land on third. Suffolk's next two batters when down in order and the score stood still. 
• Similar to Suffolk, RWU got a runner on third in the home half of the seventh and thankfully for the Rams, a case of déjà vu occurred the winning run was stranded there to send the game into extras. 
• The Rams took their first lead of the day in the top of the eighth as Julia Mills' single to left field brought in ghost runner Carignan to make it a 3-2 Suffolk score. 
• Roger Williams used a single of its own to tie things at 3-all. Dana Still gloved the first out in left before Foley put the ball into play at third. Quintana managed to play it, held it for a second to keep the runner on second and tossed over to third. Foley was a step ahead of the throw to put Hawks on first and second with one out. Kayleigh O'Connor managed to barrel the first pitch she saw to left field to bring the game-winning run around.  

PITCHERS PICTURE

• Newhall took the loss as she gave up four runs, three earned, on 10 hits and two walks with eight strikeouts over 7.1 innings of work. 
• Raegan Germano earned the win with a three-run, two-earned, seven-hit, three-walk, seven-strikeout performance in 8.0 frames.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Lanza went 2-for-3 at the dish with one walk. 
• Carignan chipped in one hit, one RBI, one run and one sac fly.  
• Mills brought in one run on one hit. 
• Braid added one hit, one run and one sac. 
• Quintana scored one run. 
• Still and Heyman had one hit apiece. The former added one sac.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk and Roger Williams went to extra innings for the first time in program history.
• The last three games between the Rams and Hawks have been decided via one run. 
• Overall seven outings in the Suffolk, RWU series have ended via a one-run margin. 
• Newhall had a career-high eight strikeouts.
• Lanza (2 games, 4 hits), Carignan (3 games, 5 hits), Still (10 games, 14 hits) and Braid (3 games, 4 hits) extended their hit streaks. 

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk aims to split the double feature with the Hawks this afternoon.