NEWTON, Mass. – With her eighth strikeout of the game on Monday afternoon, Mount Ida freshman pitcherNicole Handzel (Palmer, Mass.) accomplished two incredible feats. She completed a no hitter in a 6-0 victory over Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) foe Albertus Magnus, and broke the Mount Ida single season record, with her 109th strikeout of the 2014 campaign.
Handzel came just one walk short of a perfect game, as she faced one batter over the minimum through seven innings of work and picked up her sixth victory of the season.
She also eclipsed the strikeout mark set twice by Devan Meeker ('13), who had 108 strikeouts in 2010 as a freshman and 104 strikeouts in her junior season in 2012.
Game One: Mount Ida 6, Albertus Magnus 0
The Mustangs got single runs in the second and fourth inning, then busted the game wide open with a four-run fifth and rode Handzel's brilliant pitching outing to the opening game victory.
Lucianna Medici (Riverside, R.I.), Emma Morton (Winchester, Mass.) and Nickole Soto (Marlboro, Mass.) each had a pair of hits in the game, with Soto scoring a run and driving one in as well.
Gina Onorevole (Lafayette, N.J.) scored twice in the victory, including opening the scoring in the second when she came around on a double to left center by Morton.
Freshman Kaitlyn Muhlenforth (Bohemia, N.Y.) chased home Soto two innings later with a bloop single down the right field line.
A passed ball and two errors helped the Mustangs put up four runs in the fifth inning, beginning with an RBI single from shortstop Kirsten Guerrero (Fairfield, Conn.) that was misplayed and turned into a pair of runs. Guerrero came across on the passed ball and Onorevole, who had reached on an error, came around to score on an RBI ground-out by Soto.
Freshman Brianna Longley (Milford, Conn.) fell to 7-5 with the loss, giving up six runs, three of them earned on ten hits in six innings.
Handzel saw her bid for a perfect game end when she issued a lead-off walk to Alyssa Puccilli (Milford, Conn.) in the top of the third.
She had struck out five batters through the first three innings, then tied the record by getting Megan Kelly (Bronx, N.Y.) in the sixth, and fanned shortstop Carli Matrisian (Milford, Conn.) swinging to end the game and complete the doubly historic feat.
*Release provided courtesy of Mount Ida College Sports Information