STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (17-5, 9-3 GNAC) swept a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) softball twinbill versus Emmanuel College (12-10, 7-5 GNAC) at Richard W. Bailey Field on Saturday afternoon. The Monks posted a 3-2 walk-off win in the opener and completed the sweep with a 2-1 nightcap victory.
GAME ONE
In the opener, Emmanuel jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a run off two hits in the first inning, as junior shortstop Catherine Davis (Wethersfield, Conn.) led off with a sharp single to left and scored two batters later when sophomore designated player Samantha Adams (Sanford, Maine) doubled to left-center.
Saint Joseph's responded in kind in the bottom of the second, tying the game when sophomore catcher Jennifer Murphy (Andover, Mass.) walked and sprinted home on a Mariah Harrison (Buxton, Maine) two-base hit to left.
Saints sophomore pitcher Jill Kilcoyne (Worcester, Mass.) found herself in a jam when she walked the bases loaded with two out in the third, but managed to escape unscathed by inducing a pop out off the bat of junior outfielder Megen Pollini (Wolfeboro, N.H.).
The Monks claimed their first lead of the day with a run in the fourth, when Harrison walked and eventually scored on a Kim Jordan (Bangor, Maine) roped a single to left, lifting the hosts to a 2-1 edge.
The slim advantage looked to be the final score as senior starting pitcher Theresa Hendrix (Scarborough, Maine/Cheverus) sat the first two batters she faced in the top of the seventh, but Davis stepped to the plate and tied the game with one swing, launching a 3-1 offering over the left field wall.
Unable to generate much offense off Kilcoyne for the first six frames, the Monks put together an impressive effort to win the opener in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the seventh. The first two batters reached, as Jordan led off with a double to the base of the left field wall and sophomore center fielder Carla Tripp (Lovell, Maine) was hit by a pitch. Both runners moved up 60 feet on a wild pitch and junior first baseman Melissa Mayhew (Hiram, Maine) walked to load the bases with zero outs. Kilcoyne settled in, forcing a foul pop off the bat of Hendrix and inducing a fielder's choice groundout by Murphy to set the stage for Pollini, who lined a single to left, plating Tripp for the winning run.
Jordan registered half of the Monks' four hits with a double and an RBI and Hendrix improved to 2-1 on the season after allowing two runs off five hits and three walks with three punch-outs in a complete-game effort. Saint Joseph's stranded 10 runners in the victory.
Davis went 3-4 with a pair of runs and an RBI off the solo shot while Kilcoyne yielded three runs off four hits and eight walks with three K's in 6.2 innings.
GAME TWO
The closing contest developed into a pitchers' duel between SJC junior Erica Boulanger (Somersworth, N.H.) and Emmanuel sophomore Samantha Adams, as the conference counterparts combined to record just 13 hits with neither finding the scoreboard until the Monks plated a pair in the bottom of the fourth.
Hendrix ignited the two-run fourth with a lead-off double to deep right-center, as the senior standout swiped third and scored on a Pollini sacrifice fly to center. Freshman second baseman Kelsy Gaddy (Limington, Maine) followed with a two-bagger to left-center and traded places with Harrison, who roped a two-base hit to the base of the left-center wall, to make it a 2-0 game heading into the fifth frame.
Cruising along, Boulanger seemed to run out of gas in the sixth. Junior second baseman Kerrianne Vulpis (East Rockaway, N.Y.) led off with a double to center and scored when the following batter, freshman Abbey Alexiades (Kingston, Mass.) singled to center. Adams followed and reached on an infield error and sophomore Susie Kieselback (Wethersfield, Conn.) ripped a single to left, loading the bases with nobody out. Co-Head Coach Jamie Smyth '92 trotted out to the circle and removed Boulanger in favor of sophomore Danielle Egan (Waterboro, Maine), who wiggled her way out of the jam with a 3-2-3 double play and a groundout to third base.
Trailing 2-1 in the top of the seventh, sophomore Erin Walsh (Granby, Conn.) led off with a single up the middle and moved to second on a Marianne Halas (Lynn, Mass.) sac bunt, but would advance no further as Egan fanned Davis and induced a groundout off the bat of Vulpis to close out the contest and the sweep.
Boulanger, who allowed one run off six hits with no walks and a trio of K's, improved to 5-0 with the winning decision while Egan collected her third save of the year after giving up one hit with one strikeout in two solid innings of relief.
For the Saints, Kieselback went 2-3 with a stolen base and was the only repeat-hitter in the closing contest. Adams, who yielded two runs off six hits and a walk over six frames, falls to 3-6 on the season with the loss.
With the sweep, Saint Joseph's improves to 18-0 in the history of the series with Emmanuel College.
Both teams return to conference play tomorrow, when Saint Joseph's hosts Mount Ida College in a twinbill that begins at 11:00 AM and Emmanuel hosts University of Saint Joseph, with the first game starting at 12:00 PM.
#GOMONKS
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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 474-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.
