By Draven Dabrowski
Sports Writer
The Owls dropped the opener of an NE10 doubleheader to Saint Michael’s College, 6-3 after a late seventh-inning rally erased a strong start in the circle.
The Owls responded in the second game with a 10-0 run-rule win in five innings, using a dominant pitching performance and a much-needed offensive breakout to earn the win.
“I think we had a great bounce back from game one to game two,” Head Coach Kate Bowen said. “I’m really proud of how we responded.”
Pitcher Ashley Lewis, a senior, delivered a strong performance in the opener, striking out a season-high eight batters while cruising through six innings. She allowed just one unearned run during that stretch, consistently working ahead in counts and keeping hitters off balance.
However, the momentum of being up 3-1 shifted in the seventh inning when Saint Michael’s broke through, scoring five runs to take control of the game.
The late rally by the Purple Knights proved to be the difference, as the Owls were unable to recover.
Offensively, the Owls struggled to generate consistent pressure. Despite getting good hits, they were not able to come up with any more runs in the final inning.
The university quickly flipped the script in game two, putting together one of its most complete performances of the season.
Behind a dominant outing from pitcher Giselle DeLutri, a sophomore, the Owls controlled the game from the start.
DeLutri improved to 4-5 on the season after tossing five scoreless innings, allowing just two hits while striking out six.
She set the tone early, attacking hitters and preventing Saint Michael’s from finding any rhythm at the plate.
The Owls offense backed her up immediately.
They showed a much more aggressive and confident approach compared to the opener.
The university got going right away in the first inning: a mix of timely hits led to an early 2-0 lead.
The Owls kept the pressure on in the second, taking advantage of Saint Michael’s errors before adding more runs with a clutch extra-base hit by right fielder, Cheyenne LaTouche, a sophomore, who recently made the move to right field and has not missed a beat in her new spot.
“She is great. Chey’s a great outfielder,” Bowen said. “In practice, we always go at different positions, so I wasn’t concerned.”
The offense broke things open in the third, stringing together hits and capitalizing on another miscue to build a commanding lead.
The game was put out of reach when catcher Sophia Angiolini, a sophomore, launched her first career home run to make it 10-0, a moment she called special.
“It’s exciting. It’s really exciting when your team is all in for you,” Angiolini said.
The breakthrough at the plate highlighted the adjustments the university made between games. They converted on the same chances they had missed in the first game.
The contrast between the two games showed both the challenges and potential of the Owls who demonstrated resilience by responding to a tough loss with a complete performance in the second game.
The Owls will look to build off that momentum as conference play continues.
“This shows great versatility of being able to come back from a loss and being able to constantly pick up the energy. When we’re losing or we’re down,” Delutri said, “we can use that for future games.”
