Worcester, Mass. - Host Clark extended its
winning streak to five games with an impressive set of wins over
visiting Smith College on Sunday afternoon, taking game one 13-1
and then the night cap 13-0, pushing their record to 15-3 and 5-1
in NEWMAC play.
Senior Chelsea Proulx (Franklin, N.H.) was the
catalyst for the explosive Cougar offense, going 4-for-7 on the day
with a homerun, eight RBI and three runs scored.
On the mound, junior Sarah Carter (Worcester,
Mass.) improved to 8-0 with a four-inning, three-hit, two-strikeout
effort in the game one victory, while Meghan Lennon (Charlton, Mass.) picked up her first win of the
season in game two, giving up just two hits in three innings of
work.
After Carter retired to Pioneers in order in the top of the first,
senior Lauren Blake (Oakland, Maine) smacked a
leadoff double to left center and eventually came around to score
on a Darcey Kurashige-Elliott (Berkeley, Calif.)
sacrifice fly. The big blow of the inning came later when Proulx
crushed a three-run shot to left center, giving Clark an early 4-0
lead.
The Cougars were right back at it in the bottom of the second,
plating six runs on five hits, highlighted by a Stefanie Kettenacker (Hastings-on-the-Hudson, N.Y.) two-run double
and a run-scoring two-bagger by Blake.
Three straight singles to begin the third had the bases loaded for
Clark and Kettenacker delivered a sacrifice fly that scored
Mel Melkonian (Worcester, Mass.), making the score
11-0.
Smith finally scratched across a run in the top of the fourth when
Laura Robitzek doubled and scored an RBI groundout by Kirstie
Beaton.
The hosts got two more in the fourth before reliever Kelly Schroder (Auburn, Mass.) got the final three outs,
including the last two via the strikeout.
Game two started off in similar fashion to game one, with the
Cougars attacking early and pushing across four runs in the top of
the first. Proulx had an RBI single in the frame and Erin Murphy (Boxboro, Mass.) notched a two-run double.
Three more Clark runs came across in the second as
Kurashige-Elliott drew a bases loaded walk and Proulx had a two run
single down the left field line.
The Cougars tacked on four more in the third as Melkonian crushed a
run-scoring double to left center, Proulx drove in yet another with
a single, Melissa Traft (Milton, Mass.) recorded a
sacrifice fly and Kurashige-Elliott posted an RBI single.
Clark actually scored two runs in the fourth without recording a
hit. Back-to-back one-out walks to Lennon and Blake was followed by
a pair of wild pitches that scored Lennon and Blake came around to
score on a Melkonian sacrifice fly.
Table setters Blake and Melkonian went a combined 7-for-12 with 11
runs scored in the two games for Clark, who outscored their
opponents 45-3 in the four games over the weekend.
The Cougars return to the diamond on Friday when they host
Springfield, while the Pioneers host Elms College in a doubleheader
on Monday.