Box Score
SPRINGFIELD, Mass.— Junior Emily Mastropaolo knocked home classmate Jocelyn Agnelli with the bases loaded in the 12th inning to give the Western New England University softball team a 2-1 walk-off win over Gordon College in a 2014 Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship Tournament play-in game at Golden Bear Softball Park on Sunday. The Golden Bears have won three straight games to improve to 19-16, while the Fighting Scots end their season at 12-21.
 
Senior tri-captain Maria Francese went 3-for-6 and scored the tying run in the bottom of the eighth to extend further into extra innings. She now has 47 hits on the season to give her 201 for her career in a Western New England uniform.
 
Kara Pepper (Wyckoff, N.J.) singled off the third baseman's glove with the bases loaded to score Rachel Ryder (Telford, Pa.) to give the visitors a 1-0 lead in the top of the eighth inning, but the Golden Bears extended the game with a tying run in its home half. Sophomore Heather Fecteau singled up the middle to plate Francese with one out. But with runners at second and third base on that hit, the Scots turned a double play as Pepper threw out a runner at third and the third baseman's relay got Fecteau out trying to go to second on the throw.
 
Western New England had the first good scoring chance in the second inning when Fecteau hit a ball to the right-center gap with one out, but center fielder Pepper fired a throw into second base to get Fecteau out trying to stretch a single into a double. One batter later, senior tri-captain Katie Eckert was hit by a pitch before a ground out ended the inning.
 
Gordon came back in the top of the third for its solid scoring opportunity. Gabriel Roberts led off with an infield single to the second baseman and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Emily Burkhart. Western New England got out of the jam as Grieger got a strikeout and Eckert made a nice backhanded stab along the third base line for the final out.
 
The Golden Bears saw another good look in its home third, but couldn't push a run across the plate. Freshman Gabby Lavinio laced a two-out triple to left-center just under the reach of Pepper, but a line out to third base ended the threat.
 
Pepper saved another run in the Golden Bears' fifth inning when she appeared to rob Agnelli of a potential home run by catching the ball near the top of the left-center fence.
 
Western New England threatened to score again in the bottom half of the seventh inning, looking for a walk-off win to move to the next round. The Golden Bears put runners on first and second with only one out in the frame, but Gordon starter Skylar Bareford (Stonington, Conn.) got Agnelli to fly out and Lavinio to ground out to send the game into extras.
 
Lauren Zambrano came in to relieve Geiger at the start of the eighth inning and quickly retired the first two Gordon batters she saw. Not unlike a rally against Nichols two weeks ago, Ryder singled with two outs to create an opportunity for the Scots. She soon found herself standing on third after a successful steal and wild pitch on consecutive plays.
 
Kendall Bukuras (North Falmouth, Mass.) and Bareford both battled with Zambrano, eventually earning walks to load the bases. Gordon's best statistical hitter, Pepper, trotted to the plate with a chance to spur the Scots to an upset bid and she flourished in the big spot. The hot-hitting centerfielder singled to the deep part of the infield, bringing Ryder across the plate for the 1-0 lead.
 
However, the Scots couldn't close out the victory in the eighth inning. The Golden Bears totaled three singles in the bottom half of the inning, but a heads up play by Ryder eliminated Western New England's opportunity to end the game in the eighth.
 
Each team had several chances over the next few innings, but the two pitchers held the opposing offense at bay. Twice, Gordon had a runner on third base, but couldn't come up with a big hit to them in for a run.
 
A Golden Bears' offense that had been held in check for 11 innings finally clicked in the bottom half of the 12^th. Agnelli started off the inning with a walk before back-to-back walks by Lavinio and Francese. With no outs and the bases loaded, Mastropaolo lifted a ball into the gap in left-center to earn the walk-off win, 2-1.