FORT MYERS, FL – Saint Joseph's College (6-2) split a pair of games in the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic on Friday afternoon. The Monks opened with a 6-4 win over North Park College and saw a five-game win streak come to an end with a 5-2 loss at the hands of Drew University in the nightcap.
Saint Joseph's vs. North Park
North Park jumped on the board first with a single run in the top of the second and held a 3-2 lead before the Monks plated four off five hits in the bottom of the fifth to put the game on ice.
Senior Lindsay Moore (Barrington, N.H.) was 2-3 with a run, a triple and two RBI, sophomore first baseman Melissa Mayhew (Hiram, Maine) went 2-3 with a run and a pair of RBI and freshman catcher Jennifer Murphy (Andover, Mass.) was 1-3 with two runs batted in on the afternoon.
Junior pitcher Rae-Marie Copan (Newton, Mass.) scattered 11 hits with two earned runs allowed and six strikeouts over seven innings to improve to 3-0 on the season. Danielle Warner took the loss for North Park after yielding six runs off nine hits and three walks with four K's in the setback.
In the bottom of the fifth, Moore tripled home senior second baseman Connie Grovo (Limington, Maine) and promptly scored on a Mayhew base hit, lifting the Royal Blue to a 4-3 lead. Senior left fielder Theresa Hendrix (Scarborough, Maine/Cheverus) followed with a double and freshman shortstop Mariah Harrison (Buxton, Maine) walked to load the bases for Murphy, who drove home a pair of insurance runs with a single through the right side.
North Park threatened with three hits in the sixth but stranded a pair in the frame and Mykala Walton led off the seventh with a solo home run to center to make it a two-run game. Kaity Olson singled with two out, but Copan bore down and forced an infield ground out to close out the contest.
Saint Joseph's vs. Drew University
The Rangers scored all five of their runs off four hits in the top of the sixth. Sophomore starter Erica Boulanger (Somersworth, N.H.) cruised through the first five frames, scattering three hits with three K's, but ran out of gas in the sixth when she walked three batters, including a pair with the bases loaded.
The Monks showed some fight in the bottom of the seventh, scoring a pair of runs off three hits, but the comeback bid would fall short in the three-run loss.
Hendrix was 3-4 with a stolen base and freshman shortstop Danica Gleason (South Portland, Maine) was 2-4 with a triple and an RBI in the loss. Boulanger falls to 1-1 on the season after giving up five runs on six hits and four walks with three punch outs in 5.2 innings while Laura Jordan (Orrington, Maine) and Danielle Egan (Waterboro, Maine) combined to work the final 1.1 frames with the latter posting a pair of K's.
Kristin Zeigler collected the win for Drew after allowing two runs off eight hits and a pair of free passes with three strikeouts in a complete-game effort.
Saint Joseph's concludes the 2014 spring trip tomorrow with games versus UMass.-Dartmouth (11:00 AM) and Nichols College (1:00 PM).
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Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 430-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
