THE BASICS 

Game One Score: Emerson 4, Clark 3

Game Two Score: Emerson 7, Clark 6

Game One Pitching Decision: W - Jessica Gomez (8-7) ; L - Nicole Buckley (0-6)

Game Two Pitching Decision: W - Calli Pratt (6-3) ; L - Kaylee Gibson (2-6)

Records: Emerson Lions (15-15, 2-10 NEWMAC) ; Clark Cougars (5-12, 1-10 NEWMAC) 

Location: Worcester, Mass. (O'Brien Field)

Date: April 22, 2022

The Lead: The Emerson softball pieced together its first NEWMAC twin bill sweep of the season out at Clark on Friday afternoon. Behind a 10 strikeout outing in the circle from Gomez, the Lions fended off a late comeback by Clark to take game one, 4-3. In game two, four runs in the sixth and seventh frames to push the Purple & Gold to the 7-5 victory. 

GAME ONE: Emerson 4, Clark 3

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

EMERSON 

Mary Kuczkowski: 3-3, triple, one run scored & one RBI
Gomez: 3-3, two doubles, one run scored & one RBI
Makenzie Killough: 1-4, double & RBI
Pratt: one RBI
Lexi Semanchik: 1-3, one run scored & RBI

PITCHING: Jessica Gomez (W, 8-7) - seven innings pitched, six hits, three runs (zero earned), one walk & 10 strikeouts

CLARK

Rebecca Mauro: 2-3, one run scored & RBI
Kaylee Gibson: 1-3, double & one run scored
Francesca Cirone 1-3, double
Natalie Stilwell: 1-1, one run scored
Kaylee Armida: RBI

PITCHING: Nicole Buckley (L, 0-6) - seven innings pitched, eight hits, four runs (three earned), one walk & two strikeouts

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• Three innings passed with the score held at 0-0 before Emerson broke away with the 3-0 lead with a three-run top of the fourth. 
• Kuczkowski found the right center gap for an RBI three-bagger to bring in freshman Carly Rosenberg for the game's first run and the 1-0 lead. 
• In the next at-bat, Gomez helped herself out when she sent an RBI double down the right field line to bring the score to 2-0. Pratt then wrapped the fourth frame's scoring with a grounder to the pitcher that brought in Gomez for the third run. 
• Gomez fanned three batters over the next three innings to hold Clark off the boards and kept the 3-0 Lions' lead in tact. 
• Emerson added one more run in the top half of the seventh thanks to Killough, whose double landed in the gap in right center to bring in Semanchik to up the visitors lead to 4-0. 
• In Clark's portion of the seventh, the Cougars plated three times and closed the gap to within one at 4-3. 
• Mauro drove in Clark's first run on in an RBI double into right before Stilwell reached on infield single that was enough for Mauro to come around with the score at 4-2. 
• Armida drove an RBI sacrifice fly into right to plate the third Cougars run, but Gomez retired Allessia Mauro down on strikes to hold down the 4-3 win for the Lions. 

GAME TWO: Emerson 7, Clark 5

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

EMERSON

Semanchik: 2-3, double, two runs scored & RBI
Pratt: 1-3, two runs scored & RBI
Killough: RBI 
Sam Zannotti: 1-2, triple, one run scored & RBI
Claire Overton: 1-3, RBI
Ally Lacey: 1-3, RBI
Mallory Shofi: 1-2, one run scored

PITCHING: Karagan Knowles - three innings pitched, two hits, two earned (one earned), one walk & four strikeouts
Calli Pratt (W, 6-3) - four innings pitched, eight hits, four runs (three earned), one walk & four strikeouts 

CLARK

Samantha Crowley: 2-3, three runs scored
Kaylee Gibson: 3-4, one run scored & two RBI
Jessica Martin: 2-4, RBI
Mauro: 1-3, one run scored
Eliza Lindberg: one run scored 

PITCHING: Kaylee Gibson (L, 2-6) - six innings pitched, six hits, four runs (three earned), two walks & one strikeout
Jessica Sardilli: one inning pitched, one hit, three runs & two walks

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• Like game one, the second game started off with a scoreless three innings. It was in Emerson's part of the fourth where they took the 1-0 lead after Zannotti sent a sacrifice fly out to center. 
• Clark grabbed their first lead of the day behind a Armida's sacrifice fly, which leveled the score at 1-1. Martin then batted in K Gibson on a single into center to push the Cougars ahead, 2-1. 
• The fifth inning saw Emerson reclaim the one-run edge thanks to Pratt, who snuck an RBI single through the right side to plate Shofi as the scored evened at 1-1. 
• Semanchik followed in the next at-bat and smacked a double into right to up Emerson's lead to 3-2. 
• Gibson singled to the pitcher in the home half of the fifth for Clark and on a throwing miscue by the catcher, allowed Lindberg to plate the go-ahead run for the 4-3 lead. 
• Through the sixth and seventh innings for Emerson, the Lions pushed across four runs to take back the lead, 7-4. 
• Lacey roped a single up the middle in the sixth to bring in Zannotti to knot the score for the third time, this time at 4-4. Then with the bases loaded and no outs, Emerson plated three more runs in their half of the seventh. 
• Killough was plunked with a pitch that allowed the fifth run to come to move Emerson's lead up to 5-4. Overton then smacked a single into the right center gap to plate Pratt for the sixth run. The Lions then took advantage of a wild pitch as Semanchik came home to extend the visitors' cushion to 7-4.
• Clark got one run back in the bottom of the seventh on Gibson's two-out RBI single up the middle, but Pratt caught Martin looking on strikes to secure the 7-5 win. 

UP NEXT 

• Emerson heads out to Wheaton (Mass.) on Saturday, April 23rd for the quick turnaround for a doubleheader starting at 12:00 p.m.