FORT MYERS, FL - For the third time in as many days on their
southern swing, the Lady Monks softball team (3-3) split a pair of
contests, defeating College of Wooster, 9-5, and falling to RPI,
14-1, in a mercy rule-shortened game. Starter
Christy Wezowicz '10 (Granville,
MA) notched her first victory of the season against Wooster and
outfielder Anna Willis '10
(Gorham, ME) lifted her season average to .550 (11-20) with a 5-6
effort at the plate for the day.
GAME ONE
Liddy van der Linden '10 (Worcester, MA) put the
Lady Monks on the board in the first inning with a two-run double,
scoring Willis and Liz
Jordan '09 (Sandwich, MA), who both reached with
base hits, and later scored on a single off the bat of
Emily Leverone '11 (Hampton,
NH).
St. Joe's added another run in the second via another van
der Linden RBI. The junior shortstop plated
Willis, who led off the frame with a base knock
and was moved to second with a sac bunt by Jordan,
to make the score 4-0, Lady Monks.
The Fighting Scots managed to gain a 5-4 lead after scoring twice
in the third and three times in the fourth inning. Marissa Stover
'12 (Westlake, OH) doubled to drive home the tying and go-ahead
runs in the fourth for Wooster.
Willis continued to swing a hot bat by leading off
the bottom of the fourth with a single, advanced to second on a
wild pitch and went to third on a Jordan base hit
before stealing home as part of a double steal to tie the game at
five apiece. Jordan scored on a misplayed ball of
the bat of Alyssa Dunn '11
(Standish, ME) to lift her team to a 6-5 edge.
Katelyn Call '12 (Portland,
ME/McAuley) and Natasha Howard
'11 (Farmington, ME) added RBI's in the inning to extend the SJC
lead to 8-5.
Pitcher Kiera Walsh '11 (Benton,
ME) replaced Wezowicz in the circle in the fifth
and allowed one hit in three innings of relief to help the Royal
Blue clinch the victory. The Lady Monks added an insurance run in
the sixth by way of a Leverone double, scoring pinch runner
Caitlin Schrum '12 (Littleton,
NH) to cap the game scoring.
For Saint Joseph's, Willis was 3-4 with three
runs, van der Linden went 3-4, scored two runs and
knocked three home, Howard was 2-3 with an RBI,
Dunn went 2-4 and Leverone was
2-4 with a pair of RBI's in the win. Jordan also was 2-3 and scored
a pair of runs.
Laruen Swinehart '12 (Apple Creek, OH), Samantha Bachelder '12
(Lexington, OH) and Stover all had two hits for Wooster and
Fighting Scots starter Katie Pifer '09 (Meadville, PA) took the
loss in the circle.
GAME TWO
Rensselaer tallied three runs in the first, two in the second and
six in the third inning to stake an 11-0 lead over Saint Joseph's.
The Lady Monks' lone run of the contest came in the top of the
fourth when Leverone sent home van der
Linden on a fielder's choice.
The Red Hawks recorded nine hits and worked five walks and did not
allow SJC pitchers Madylan Kluna
'12 (Standish, ME) or Michelle
Prevost '12 (Topsham, ME), who made her first
collegiate appearance in the loss, to whiff a single batter.
Rensselaer was led by Jessica Sitzer '11 (Rockaway, NJ), who
recorded four RBI's, and Sara Finkbeiner '09 (Napanoch, NY) and
Julianne Bass '09 (Costa Mesa, CA), who netted three runs batted in
each in the triumph.
Kluna took the loss for St. Joe's and
Willis was the only SJC player to record multiple
hits with a pair of base knocks in the loss.
The Lady Monks are slated to play a couple of New England teams on
Friday, as the Royal Blue will take on Fitchburg State at 11:00 AM,
followed by Bowdoin College at 3:00 PM. St. Joe's will complete its
southern swing with games against Western New England (9:00 AM) and
Delaware Valley (11:00 AM) on Saturday.
