PHOTO COURTESY OF BRIAN BERTHIAUME '24
STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (14-12, 2-0 GNAC) won a pair of games over Johnson & Wales University (21-9, 7-1 GNAC) in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) non-divisional softball action at Richard W. Bailey Field on Saturday afternoon. The Monks clipped the Wildcats in the opener, 1-0 in eight innings, and completed the sweep with a 3-1 nightcap triumph.
SAINT JOSEPH'S 1, JOHNSON & WALES (8 inn.):
The opening game was a true pitchers' duel featuring SJC senior starter Meredith Pence (Remington, Va.) and JWU graduate Livia Feole (Cranston, R.I.), who locked heads for eight innings without yielding an earned run.
The Wildcats had the best scoring opportunity in regulation play as the visitors loaded the bases without registering a hit with one out in the top of the fifth. Pence quickly slammed the door by striking out a pair of batters to preserve the scoreless stalemate.
With the international tiebreaker rule in play in the top of the eighth, Johnson & Wales placed a runner on second and had runners on second and third with one out before Pence induced a harmless infield pop-up and struck out the following hitter to maintain the 0-0 score.
In the bottom of the eighth, junior Taylor Owen (Wakefield, Mass.) was placed on second and, after moving to third on a bunt single by freshman Hannah Gosselin (Biddeford, Maine), scored on an Olivia Howe (Arundel, Maine) base hit to left field.
IN THE CIRCLE:
Pence tied the Monks' single-game strikeouts record with 13 K's and allowed three hits and six walks over eight shutout innings to improve to 8-2. Feole falls to 4-3 on the season after allowing an unearned run on eight hits with one strikeout in eight frames.
AT THE BAT:
- Howe was 2-4 with an RBI and registered the 100th hit of her career when she singled up the middle in the bottom of the fourth inning
- Freshman Sadie Tirrell (Naples, Maine) also went 2-4 with a pair of singles
- JWU did not feature a repeat-hitter in the loss; sophomore Caroline Amorelli (Winslow, N.J.) was 1-4 with a double
SAINT JOSEPH'S 3, JOHNSON & WALES 1:
The Wildcats scored their only run of the day in the top of the third, when graduate Jill Pulek (Cheshire, Conn.) singled and later crossed home plate on a Haley Erickson (Calimesa, Calif.) base hit.
The 1-0 edge held until the bottom of the fourth when junior Lydia Goodnough (Kennebunkport, Maine) tripled Howe home and promptly scored on a Rylee Page (Somersworth, N.H.) sac fly.
The Monks added to their lead in the fifth frame, when Gosselin singled, stole second base, and trotted home on a double off the bat of Olivia Howe to account for the 3-1 final.
IN THE CIRCLE:
SJC senior starter Emily Eagleston (Reading, Mass.) improved to 3-6 on the season after allowing one run on 10 hits with one strikeout in a complete-game performance.
JWU junior Sage Borkowski (Oxford, Conn.) falls to 6-4 on the year after giving up three runs on eight hits over five innings. Sophomore Mackenzie Clee (Warminster, Pa.) allowed one hit in a scoreless inning of relief.
AT THE BAT:
- Howe went 2-3 with a run, two doubles, and an RBI
- Sophomore catcher Abby Carpenter (Bath, Maine) was 2-3
- For Johnson & Wales, Erickson was 2-3 with an RBI and graduate Megan Antaya (Somerset, Mass.) added two singles in three at-bats
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the sweep, Saint Joseph's improves to 21-9 in the history of the series with Johnson & Wales University, a team the Monks had not swept in a two-game set since April 7th, 2012.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's will play at Emmanuel College tomorrow in a GNAC twinbill set to start at 11:00 AM.
