STANDISH, ME – Saint Joseph's (28-8, 17-5 GNAC) won both ends of a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) softball doubleheader versus Simmons College (22-12, 15-9 GNAC) at Bailey Field on Sunday afternoon.
Facing a tough Simmons College club, Saint Joseph's looked to buck the trend of dropping the first game of conference doubleheaders by posting an opening-game triumph. The Monks managed to accomplish the mission, as a non-routine single off the bat of Connie Grovo (Limington, Maine) sent Danyelle Shufelt (Sutton, Vt.) scrambling home for the winning run with two out in the bottom of the seventh in a 3-2 triumph.
In the nightcap, Saint Joseph's rode the reliable arm of junior pitcher Rae-Marie Copan (Newton, Mass.) to a 2-0 victory in a game that last just one hour.
GAME ONE
Simmons threatened with two out in the top of the first, as the visitors had runners on second and third after junior first baseman Emily Cunningham (Cotuit, Mass.) walked and sophomore pitcher Lauren Backhaus (Windsor, Conn.) doubled to left field. Senior pitcher Kayla Vannah (Waldoboro, Maine) buckled down and induced a liner to third to cease the threat.
The Monks got off to a good start in the bottom of the inning, as Shufelt led off with a blooper behind third base, moved to second on a Grovo sac bunt and scored when senior catcher Heather Tripp (Lovell, Maine) doubled to left field.
The slim advantage would not last long however, as the Sharks knotted the game with a run in the top of the third. Senior second baseman Cailin Pagel (Dorchester, Mass.) led off the frame with a single to right field, moved into scoring position on a Mikaela Caracciolo (North Attleboro, Mass.) bunt and scored when Heather White (Westfield, Mass.) reached on an error by Vannah. The inning could have yielded more offense for the visitors, but the opportunity was nixed when the Monks converted a slick 4-6-3 double play.
St. Joe's assumed a 2-1 edge in the bottom of the fourth when junior left fielder Theresa Hendrix (Scarborough, Maine/Cheverus) singled and scored on an infield groundout by senior designated player Danielle Leavitt (Spruce Head, Maine).
Vannah cruised through the next two innings but hit a snag in the top of the seventh, when sophomore third baseman Alaina DeNoncour (Johnston, R.I.) led off with a blast well beyond the left-center fence to tie the contest at two-apiece.
The game seemed destined for extra play as sophomore right fielder Victoria Ramos (North Scituate, R.I.) opened the bottom of the seventh with a foul out to third and sophomore Kim Jordan (Bangor, Maine) followed with a ground out to third base. But Shufelt came through with a two-out single to left and hustled into scoring position when the Sharks failed to cover second on the play. Up next was Grovo, who hit a handle-shot spinner between the pitching circle and second base for a single and Shufelt, sprinting all the way, came home to score the winning run without a throw.
For the Monks, Grovo was 3-3 with an RBI, Hendrix went 2-3 with a run scored and Shufelt contributed two hits and two runs in four at bats. Vannah improved to 9-4 on the year after allowing two runs (one earned) off four hits and a walk with three strikeouts over seven innings.
Backhaus suffers the setback and falls to 13-5 on the season after surrendering three runs off nine hits while fanning seven batters in 6.2 innings of work. The Sharks did not feature a repeat-hitter in the losing effort.
GAME TWO
Copan and Simmons starter Amanda Cordeiro (Fall River, Mass.) locked heads for 2 ½ scoreless innings before the Monks broke the deadlock with a run in the bottom of the third. Shufelt opened with a triple to right field and scored when the following batter, Grovo, grounded out to short to lift the Royal Blue to a 1-0 lead through three.
Saint Joseph's tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when Tripp led off by launching her team-leading fourth home run of the season, a blast that landed well beyond the left-center wall.
Simmons threatened in the top of the seventh when Victoria Luongo (Medford, Mass.) and Jen Field (Windham, Maine/McAuley) reached with singles, but Copan worked out of the potential jam with an infield groundout to end the game and post her fourth shutout of the season.
The lone repeat-hitter for either team was senior designated player Kirin Schrum (Littlefield, N.H.), who went 2-3 in the first collegiate start of her four-year career.
Copan was dominant in the victory, as the junior hurler allowed only four hits and a walk with six strikeouts. The Sharks advanced just one runner to second base during the entire game.
Cordeiro suffered the loss after giving up two runs off seven hits with a pair of K's and falls to 6-7 on the year.
With the sweep, Saint Joseph's improves to 14-3 in the history of the series with Simmons College.
A brief ceremony was held to honor the Monks' five seniors prior to the start of the GNAC doubleheader. Shufelt, Vannah, Tripp, Schrum and Leavitt have helped Saint Joseph's notch a 128-37 (.776) overall record with an 80-14 (.851) mark versus GNAC opponents and a pair of conference championships during the past four seasons.
Saint Joseph's concludes the regular season with two games versus Suffolk University tomorrow starting at 4:30 PM. Simmons is off until the GNAC Tournament starts later this week.
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 350-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.
