FORT MYERS, FL – Saint Joseph's College (1-3) split a pair of contests on the team's second day of play in the Gene Cusic Classic, falling to Kenyon College by a 6-5 score before breaking out with a 14-4 drubbing of Mount Mary College, on Tuesday.
GAME ONE
Kenyon (8-8) used a late-game rally to top the Monks as St. Joe's held a 5-3 lead going into the seventh inning and allowed three runs on four hits in the final frame. Junior first baseman Heather Tripp (Lovell, Maine) led off the bottom of the seventh with a single to left center and was lifted in favor of a pinch runner, freshman Victoria Ramos (North Scituate, R.I.), who was stranded at first as the next three batters went down in order - pop out, strikeout and fielder's choice - to end the game.
Senior pitcher Maddie Kluna (Standish, Maine) toed the rubber for the second time this season, tossing another complete game in the losing effort (0-2). Over the seven innings of work, Kluna allowed six runs (all earned) on eight hits, allowing one free pass with three punch-outs.
Freshman pitcher Maddie Stark (2-6) got the call for Kenyon and also went the distance, yielding nine hits that led to five runs (three earned) while walking three and striking out six in the victory.
Each team posted a single run in the first inning but in the third inning, the Monks took a 3-1 lead when Tripp rapped an RBI single and senior Emily Leverone (Hampton, N.H.) scored on a wild pitch. St. Joe's would secure a 4-1 cushion in the bottom of the fourth when sophomore second baseman Connie Grovo (Limington, Maine) singled in a run.
Kenyon answered in the next half inning with two runs as Erin Armentrout led off with a base knock and, two batters later, Stark helped her own cause with a two-run shot to cut her team's deficit to 4-3.
The Monks added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when freshman third baseman Kim Jordan (Bangor, Maine) scored on a wild pitch, the second for Stark on the day (she finished with three wayward deliveries), to send the game into the seventh with the Monks owning a 5-3 advantage. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Stark hit an RBI single to make the score 5-4. The next batter, Hayley Howard, sent a base hit to left center to tie the game at five. Jamie Samuel followed with an RBI groundout, a play that produced the game-winning run.
Tripp led the Monks' bats with a 3-4 day, knocking in a pair of runs.
Stark, along with notching the complete game victory, went 2-3 with a two-run homer. She scored three times and drove in three runs.
GAME TWO
Saint Joseph's scored three runs in the opening frame and nine runs in the bottom of the second to stake a 12-0 lead en route to posting the team's first victory of the year.
Junior pitcher Kayla Vannah (Waldoboro, Maine) notched her first start of the year and tossed four solid innings, allowing four runs (all earned) on six hits while walking nobody and striking out six to earn the win. Freshman pitcher Laura Jordan (Orrington, Maine) made her first appearance in relief and did so in fine fashion, striking out the side in order in a perfect inning of work.
Freshman pitcher Katie Edwards toed the slab for Mount Mary College, taking the loss. Edwards lasted three innings allowing fourteen earned runs, nine hits, and seven walks with three strikeouts.
Leverone put the Monks on the board with an RBI two-bagger and would come around to score on sophomore shortstop Lindsay Moore's (Barrington, N.H.) first home run of the season, a two-run bomb, to put the Monks ahead, 3-0 in the opening frame.
Senior catcher Maria Labbe (Lewiston, Maine) started the party in the top of the second with a walk, which was followed by a Kluna double and a single by junior right fielder Danyelle Shufelt (Sutton, Vt.) single to load the bases with nobody out. Grovo came up next and singled in a run and Leverone followed with a bases-loaded walk. Two batters later, Moore returned to the plate and went yard for a grand slam, her second tater of the day.
Mount Mary College broke their silence in the top of the third with a four-run inning, cutting the deficit to 12-4, but the Monks responded with two runs of their own in the bottom-half of the third to comprise the final score.
Moore, who went 3-3 with two homers and six RBI, was the lone repeat hitter for the Monks in the nightcap contest. She is the fifth SJC player to drive home six runs and also the fifth to belt a pair of jacks in a single game. Both totals rank as program-bests.
Jessica Kelly paced Mount Mary College at the dish with a 2-2 performance, scoring once and knocking in a run.
The Monks have tomorrow off but will look to build off this momentum on Thursday when they take on Stevens Institute at 9:00 AM in Fort Myers.
