BOSTON, MA – Emerson College won both ends of a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) softball doubleheader, 7-6 and 11-10, with Saint Joseph's (7-5, 0-2 GNAC) on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore outfielder Danyelle Shufelt (Sutton, VT) went 5-5 with three runs and a pair of stolen bases in the nightcap setback.
Both games between the top two teams in the GNAC - according to the preseason poll – were thrillers, as neither club let up until the final out was made. The Monks rallied in the opener with three runs in the top of the fifth to knot the tilt at 6-6 but the Lions pushed across the eventual game-winner in the bottom of the inning to collect a 7-6 win. The hosts trailed 8-3 after three and a half innings in the nightcap but exploded for four runs in the bottom of the fourth and outscored the Monks by a 4-2 margin over the last three frames to secure an 11-10 triumph and the conference sweep.
GAME ONE
Freshman shortstop Lindsay Moore (Barrington, NH) slammed her second homer of the season, a two-run jack, in the second inning to lift the Monks to 2-0 lead and Emerson answered with a run in the bottom half to make it a 2-1 contest.
Senior outfielder Emily Leverone (Hampton, NH) lifted the Royal Blue to a 3-1 advantage with a solo jack in the top of the third, but the relentless Lions fired back with two runs to knot the game at three apiece.
In the bottom of the fourth, a two-run homer by Bianca Buono '14 (El Cajon, CA) provided the hosts with their first lead of the day and Jordan Newell '12 (Palm City, FL) notched an RBI single to extend the Lions' lead to 6-3 after four frames.
The see-saw skirmish continued as Saint Joseph's immediately plated three to make it a six-all game. Heather Tripp '13 (Lovell, ME), Moore and Maria Labbe '12 (Lewiston, ME) registered an RBI apiece in the rally.
Saint Joseph's stranded three runners over the final two innings, including two in the top of the seventh.
Unfortunately for the Monks, the comeback bid was for naught. Emerson managed to tally the game-winning run in the bottom of the fifth when Kendal Peiguss '12 (Suquamish, WA) plated Kelsey Tuthill '12 (Middlefield, CT), who reached via base on balls, with a double to help the Lions edge the Monks by a 7-6 margin.
Moore went 2-3 with two runs, three RBI, a double and a home run and Labbe was 2-4 with an RBI for St. Joe's. Starting pitcher Maddie Kluna '12 (Standish, ME) suffered the loss after allowing seven hits, seven earned runs and four walks in four innings. Rae-Marie Copan '14 (Newton, MA) allowed two hits and fanned two in two frames of relief.
GAME TWO
Both clubs put on a clinic with the bats in the nightcap as the conference counterparts combined to notch 21 runs on 32 hits with seven extra-base hits, including a trio of long balls.
Once again the Monks struck first, this time with two runs in the top of the opening frame as freshman second baseman Connie Grovo (Limington, ME) belted a two-run jack, her first collegiate tater, to propel the Royal Blue to an early advantage.
Emerson catcher Sierra Wood '11 (Torrance, CA) cut her team's deficit in half with an RBI two-bagger in the bottom of the second, but St. Joe's countered in the top of the third when freshman catcher Jill Howard (Rochester, NH) connected for her first NCAA jack, a solo blast, to make it a 3-1 tilt.
The resilient Lions rallied once again and tied the game at three-apiece with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. Shannon Torosian'14 (Stoneham, MA) recorded an RBI double and Lissa Pappas '14 (Prosper, TX) drove home the tying run with a single for Emerson.
Both teams responded with the sticks in the fourth when a combined nine runs were scored off seven hits. St. Joe's plated five to secure an 8-3 cushion as senior first baseman Alyssa Dunn (Standish, ME) rapped a two-run single and Howard plated a run with a base knock of her own. The scoring barrage began with two unearned runs off an Emerson infield miscue.
Lynn Herman '11 (Boca Raton, FL), Jordan Newell '12 (Palm City, FL), Torosian and Tuthill recorded an RBI apiece in the bottom of the fourth to cut the Monks' advantage down to 8-7.
St. Joe's stranded two in the top of the fifth and Emerson went down empty-handed with bases loaded in the bottom of the frame before the Monks doubled their edge with an unearned run in the top of the sixth.
The Lions' first lead of the nightcap came in the bottom of the sixth, however, as the hosts received a two-run home run off the bat of Tuthill and an RBI single from Buono to earn a 10-9 advantage.
The Monks managed to tie the game when Leverone plated a run with a single in the top of the seventh but, as it turned out, the play only set the stage for a dramatic walk-off win as Pappas plated Tuthill with a single to right in the bottom of the inning to end the game.
Howard was 3-4 with two runs, two RBI and a home run and Dunn went 3-5 with two RBI in the setback. Grovo was 2-3 with two runs, two RBI and a homer.
Shufelt's five-hit performance is the Monks' first in the last 21 seasons. Twenty-nine players had recorded four-hit efforts during the span.
Kluna suffered her second loss of the day after allowing two runs on four hits and a pair of walks in 1.1 innings of relief. Copan, the Monks' starter, surrendered 14 hits and nine runs in five frames.
Saint Joseph's will host Simmons College in a conference twinbill on Friday at 3:30 PM.
