FORT MYERS, Fla. – Saint Joseph's College (2-1) defeated Mount Mary University (2-3), 20-7, and fell to Ohio Wesleyan University (2-0), 5-2, in Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic softball action on Monday morning.
Saint Joseph's 20, Mount Mary 7
The Monks totaled 13 hits and 12 free baserunners (nine walks, three hit batsmen) in the convincing victory over the Blue Angels, as the Royal Blue pushed seven runs across off four hits in the first inning to assume control of the contest. Saint Joseph's went on to score at least one run in the following four frames in what was the team's second mercy-rule win in as many days.
In the first inning, junior first baseman Melissa Mayhew (Hiram, Maine) delivered a two-run double and sophomore catcher Carla Tripp (Lovell, Maine) plated a pair with a single to help lift the Monks to an early 7-0 cushion.
Senior pitcher Theresa Hendrix (Scarborough, Maine/Cheverus) was plunked with an errant fastball to lead off the second and, after swiping second, scored on a Megen Pollini (Wolfeboro, N.H.) base hit.
The Monks scored three runs in the third, when Tripp plated Jordan – who doubled – with a base hit and later scored, along with Shannon Laubauskas (Mexico, Maine), when sophomore Casidee Couture (Jay, Maine) doubled to the right-center gap, making it an 11-0 game through three frames.
In the bottom of the third, the Blue Angles scored three runs off four hits and an error to make it an 11-3 score, but St. Joe's responded with five runs on four hits in the fourth, when freshman second baseman Kelsy Gaddy (Limington, Maine) doubled home a pair and Couture ripped a two-run two bagger to put the game well out of reach, 16-3.
Freshman shortstop Alyssah Dennett (Augusta, Maine) also chipped in with her first NCAA hit, a triple, in the five-run fourth. Freshman outfielder Emilee Duggan (Newfield, Maine) scored on the three-bagger after notching her first collegiate hit: a single through the left side.
For the Monks, Tripp was 2-2 with three runs and four RBI, Couture went 2-3 with a pair of doubles and four RBI, Jordan was 2-2 with four runs, a double, a triple and an RBI, and Mayhew finished the day with three RBI. Duggan was 2-2 with two runs scored and Hendrix scored twice without recording an official at bat.
Sophomore pitcher Kylie McFadden (Dover, N.H.) picked up the victory after yielding seven runs (six earned) off eight hits and four walks while fanning five and freshman Allie Pike (Buxton, Maine) allowed a hit and struck out the side in her collegiate debut in the circle.
Mount Mary starter Ashley Contreras (College Station, Texas) was hit with the loss after allowing 20 runs (17 earned) off 13 hits, nine walks and three hit batsmen. She also struck out five batters in the losing bid.
Ohio Wesleyan 5, Saint Joseph's 2
Saint Joseph's held a 2-1 lead going into the top of the seventh in a contest that featured dominant pitching, but Ohio Wesleyan put the game away with four runs off four hits in the first half of the final frame en route to securing a 5-2 victory.
The teams posted six hits combined through the first four and a half innings, with the Monks striking first with the help of an error in the bottom of the fifth. Sophomore shortstop Mariah Harrison (Buxton, Maine) reached on an infield error to lead off the frame and, after a pair of pop-outs to the catcher, sprinted home on a double by senior third baseman Kim Jordan (Bangor, Maine), lifting SJC to a 1-0 lead.
The Bishops quickly responded with a run of their own, as junior pitcher Sarah Flint (Westerville, Ohio) walked and scored when the following batter, junior Lily Gresh (Westerville, Ohio), doubled, knotting the game at 1-1.
Hendrix helped her own cause in the sixth, as the senior captain delivered a one-out single and stole second to set the stage for sophomore catcher Jennifer Murphy (Andover, Mass.), who sent her battery mate home with a single to make it a 2-1 contest heading into the closing inning.
Hendrix started off well in the seventh, inducing a groundout for the first out of the inning, but the situation unraveled quickly, as Haley and Ashley Day (Plain City, Ohio) both singled and Cassi Ladina (Dublin, Ohio) walked to bring up Chelsea Denman (Pendleton, Ind.), who plated a pair to lifter her team to a 3-2 edge. Head Coach Jamie Smyth '92 then made a pitching change, bringing in sophomore Danielle Egan (Waterboro, Maine), but the swap did not change the course of the contest, as Ladina and Denman quickly moved up to second and third on a wild pitch and both scored on a Flint single to account for the 5-2 final.
Murphy was the lone repeat hitter in the loss for the Monks, as the sophomore receiver went 2-3 with an RBI in the setback. Hendrix took the loss after yielding five runs off eight hits and a pair of walks with four K's over 6.1 innings.
Flint picked up the win for the Bishops after giving up two runs (one earned) off five hits with a strikeout in a complete-game effort. The junior also went 2-3 with a run, a double and a pair of RBI in the victory.
Saint Joseph's is off tomorrow and returns to action Wednesday with games versus Wooster (1:00 PM) and Geneva (3:00 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.
