FORT MYERS, FL – The Saint Joseph's softball team improved to 5-1 on the young season with victories over Mount Saint Mary (NY) (3-3) and Minnesota-Morris (3-4) in the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic on Thursday afternoon. The Monks defeated the Knights, 3-1, in the opener and tipped the Cougars by a 1-0 score in the nightcap.
Saint Joseph's received outstanding pitching performances from a pair of freshman hurlers making their collegiate debuts. Kylie McFadden (Dover, N.H.) allowed one run off six hits and no walks with five strikeouts in the 3-1 triumph over Mount Saint Mary (NY). Danielle Egan (Waterboro, Maine) followed in kind with six innings of four-hit ball, striking out six with a pair of free passes in the 1-0 win against Minnesota-Morris.
Saint Joseph's vs. Mount Saint Mary (NY)
With two out in the top of the third, senior left fielder Theresa Hendrix (Scarborough, Maine/Cheverus) put the Monks on the board with a single to right-center, sending sophomore first baseman Melissa Mayhew (Hiram, Maine) – who reached with a walk – to the plate.
The Knights responded with a run in their next turn, as Shannon Sommer (Brewster, N.Y.) slapped a slicing drive through the left side and all the way to the fence, a hit that resulted in an inside the park home run and tied the game at one-apiece.
Senior Lindsay Moore (Barrington, N.H.) helped the Monks take the lead for good in the fifth, driving a double to center and later scoring the winning run on a Jennifer Murphy (Andover, Mass.) base hit. Hendrix, who singled through the left side after Moore's two-bagger, scored an insurance run on a passed ball later in the inning to account for the 3-1 final.
Mount Saint Mary (NY) threatened in the bottom of the seventh by starting the frame with consecutive singles, but junior right fielder Victoria Ramos (North Scituate, R.I.) and senior second baseman Connie Grovo (Limington, Maine) put throws on the money to cut down a runner at the plate on the latter base hit and McFadden settled in, inducing a pop up and a ground out to close out the game.
The Monks featured four repeat-hitters in the victory, as Moore, Hendrix, freshman center fielder Carla Tripp (Lovell, Maine) and freshman shortstop Mariah Harrison (Buxton, Maine) – making her first career start – recorded two hits apiece in the opener.
Sophomore starter Victoria Goldbach (Middle Village, N.Y.) took the loss for the Knights after yielding three runs (two earned) off 10 hits and a pair of walks with five strikeouts.
Saint Joseph's vs. Minnesota-Morris
A classic pitcher's duel nearly came down to the wire in the final contest of the day, as the Monks and Cougars locked heads for four scoreless innings before St. Joe's pushed the eventual winning run across in the bottom of the fifth.
Egan and junior Mackenzie Weatherly (Morris, Minn.) boasted essentially even lines throughout, but the Monks took advantage of a Minnesota-Morris miscue with one out in the top of the fifth to steal the victory. Grovo led off the inning with a single through the right side and advanced to third when freshman shortstop Danica Gleason (South Portland, Maine) reached on an infield error, setting the stage for Mayhew, who lifted a sac fly to left, plating Grovo and lifting her team to a 1-0 lead.
In the top of the seventh, SJC Head Coach Jamie Smyth '92 tapped Hendrix to close out the contest, and the senior allowed a hit with a strikeout in a scoreless frame to collect her first save of the season.
Moore, 2-3 with a double, was the Monks' lone repeat-hitter in the victory.
Weatherly suffered the hard-luck loss after allowing an unearned run off four hits and two walks with four punch outs over six innings.
Saint Joseph's returns to action tomorrow with contests versus North Park (1:00 PM) and Drew University (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.
