Bulldogs earn first NEC sweep, take down Sacred Heart Saturday

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Behind a huge day from junior pitcher Elle Madsen (Wheat Ridge, Colo.), the Bryant University softball team swept Sacred Heart Saturday afternoon at Conaty Park.

GAME 1

Madsen's one run, six hit performance in the circle lifted the Bulldogs (14-26, 5-5 Northeast Conference) to a 3-1 win over the Pioneers (11-24, 4-8 NEC) in the first leg of Saturday's doubleheader.

After one and one half scoreless innings, Madsen put the first hit on the board for the Black and Gold in a big way, sending a solo shot over the right field fence to put Bryant up 1-0 after two.

The Bulldogs went on to add two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning as well. Senior first baseman Jessica Benacquista (Belleville, N.J.) got things started with one-out walk, setting up classmate Madeline Velasquez (Los Angeles, Calif.) for RBI double down the right field line followed up by an RBI base knock up the middle from junior second baseman Liana Ogata (Tustin, Calif.) to put the hosts up 3-0.

Kelyn Fillmore accounted for the lone Sacred Heart run, sending a solo shot over the left-centerfield fence but, it was not enough as Madsen picked up her seventh win of the season.

GAME 2

After a Game 1 pitching duel, the Bulldog bats were awoken in the second leg of the double dip as the hosts exploded for 10 runs as part of a 10-2 victory in five innings.

The Black and Gold got things going in the bottom of the first with a leadoff single from Velasquez. After an Ogata sacrifice bunt pushed Velasquez over to second, sophomore right fielder Taylor Burger (Killingworth, Conn.) pushed the first run across with an RBI single, advancing to second on the throw home. Advancing to third on a groundball, Burger came all the way around on a Madsen single through the left side, giving Bryant the 2-0 edge after one.

In the second, Benacquista led off the inning with a double to left-center, followed up by a Haylee Haas (Moorpark, Calif.) walk. With runners on second and third, Ogata sent her first-career homerun over the right field fence to make it 5-0 Bulldogs.

Before the end of the inning, the hosts extended their lead to seven runs behind a Hayley Bottino (Canyon Country, Calif.) double to right-center.

Bryant went on to add two runs in the third, thanks to a pair of RBI knocks from Velasquez and Ogata, and a run in the fourth behind an RBI double from Benacquista, her second of the game.

The Pioneers pushed two runs across in the top of the fifth to cut the margin to just eight, but Madsen handled the rest, allowed just the two runs on six hits and a walk in five innings of work.

The Bulldogs, currently on a three-game win streak, will visit NEC-leader Central Connecticut on Sunday in New Britain. The doubleheader is scheduled to start at 12 p.m.