CLERMONT, Fla. – The Saint Joseph's College softball team kicked off the 2016 season by splitting a pair of games on Sunday morning. The Monks fell to Saint Mary's (IN), 11-2, and rebounded with a 9-2 triumph over New England Region foe Roger Williams University.
Saint Mary's 11, Saint Joseph's 2
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Monks were down early, as the Belles scored six runs off five hits and an SJC error in the top of the first inning, and failed to recover with just three hits in the mercy-rule setback.
LEADERS
- Freshman shortstop Meghan Elliott (Blackstone, Mass.) went 1-3 with a run and an RBI in her first collegiate contest
- Junior catcher Jennifer Murphy (Andover, Mass.) was 2-2 with an RBI in the Monks' season opener
- Senior pitcher Erica Boulanger (Somersworth, N.H.) took the loss after allowing 10 runs (eight earned) off 12 hits and a walk in 3.1 innings
- Freshman Kristal Smith (Pittston, Maine) yielded a run off one hit and a free pass in 1.2 innings of relief
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING
Saint Joseph's is now 0-3 all-time versus Saint Mary's, a team the Monks had not faced since 2008 prior to today.
Saint Joseph's 9, Roger Williams 2
HOW IT HAPPENED
St. Joe's responded in a big way in the team's following contest, registering 17 total hits while playing solid defense behind junior starter Kylie McFadden (Dover, N.H.), who gave up two runs off eight knocks with a pair of K's in a complete game victory.
A trio of promising freshman lifted the Monks to an early lead, as second baseman Katie Chadbourne (Jaffrey, N.H.) singled up the middle, Elliott roped a base hit to right, and Murphy walked to load the bases for Smith, who plated her classmates with a two-run single to left in the top of the first inning.
After allowing a run off four hits in the bottom of the first, the Monks countered with a run – junior Carla Tripp (Lovell, Maine) singled and later scored on a Melissa Mayhew (Hiram, Maine) base hit – and stranded three runners in the second.
With two out and runners on second and third in the third frame, Tripp sent both runners home with a single to right, making it a 5-2 game. The Monks tacked on a pair off an error and a Megen Pollini (Wolfeboro, N.H.) double in the fourth and capped the day's scoring with two runs off four hits in the seventh, with Chadbourne and Mayhew producing run-scoring singles.
LEADERS
- Chadbourne was 3-5 with two runs and a stolen base
- Elliott went 3-4 with a run while playing flawless defense at short
- Tripp added three hits in five at-bats with a run, a double, two RBI and a stolen base
- Smith was 2-4 with two runs and an RBI
NOTEWORTHY
All nine starters registered at least one hit with seven different players crossing the plate in the victory.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING
With the win, Saint Joseph's is now 8-2 in the history of the series with Roger Williams University, a team the Monks had not faced since the 2007 season prior to this morning.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's is back in action tomorrow with a 9:00 AM game versus Juniata College and a 3:00 PM tilt against Sage College.
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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.