STANDISH, ME – Saint Joseph's College (18-2, 10-0 GNAC) won a pair of games versus Norwich University (11-7, 6-2 GNAC) in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) softball doubleheader at Richard W. Bailey Field on Sunday afternoon. With the sweep, the Monks extended their winning streak to 12 games while the result in the opener ended a seven-game string for the Cadets.
GAME ONE
Senior pitcher Rae-Marie Copan (Newton, Mass.) was dominant yet again, opening the game with a pair of perfect frames before allowing a solo home run to sophomore catcher Angie Hershberger (Felton, Calif.) with one out in the top of the third.
Saint Joseph's, which stranded five runners over the first three innings combined, finally got on the board in the fifth when the hosts plated four runs off three hits and a Norwich error to secure a 4-1 cushion.
Freshman center fielder Carla Tripp (Lovell, Maine) and junior third baseman Kim Jordan (Bangor, Maine) led off the fifth frame with base hits and moved up to second and third on a Connie Grovo (Limington, Maine) sacrifice bunt. Senior Lindsay Moore (Barrington, N.H.) sent Tripp home on a fielder's choice and was replaced at first with a pinch runner, sophomore Megen Pollini (Wolfeboro, N.H.), who immediately swiped second. Jordan and Pollini scored when the following batter, freshman shortstop Danica Gleason (South Portland, Maine) reached on an infield error and senior outfielder Theresa Hendrix (Scarborough, Maine/Cheverus) knocked in Gleason with a double to make it a three-run game.
Copan proceeded to close out the game, allowing one baserunner over the final two innings to earn her third victory in as many days. Now 9-0 on the season, Copan allowed just three hits while fanning five in the winning decision.
Offensively, Jordan was 3-4 with a run scored and Tripp went 2-3 with a run in the conference triumph.
Junior hurler Corinne Baita (Rochester, N.H.) suffered the loss after allowing four runs (one earned) off eight hits and a walk with one strikeout over six innings of work.
GAME TWO
The nightcap featured a different feel, as the Monks opened with four runs off five hits in the bottom of the first to seemingly put the game out of reach. Gleason, Hendrix and Mariah Harrison (Buxton, Maine) produced RBI singles and Moore singled and scored on an error to account for the early four-spot.
But the Cadets chipped away at the deficit, as sophomore left fielder Payton Warner (Harwich, Mass.) launched a solo jack to left with one out in the top of the third to cut the hosts' cushion down to 4-1. In the sixth, sophomore right fielder Justina George (Wallingford, Conn.) reached on a fielder's choice and trotted home when senior shortstop Abby Belcher (Winthrop, Mass.) lined a home run over the left field wall, making it a 4-3 contest.
In the top of the seventh, Monks Head Coach Jamie Smyth '92 pulled starting pitcher Erica Boulanger (Somersworth, N.H.) in favor of freshman Danielle Egan (Waterboro, Maine) and the first-year hurler encountered trouble right away, allowing a Hershberger single and walking Taylor Morris (Haverhill, N.H.) to start the inning.
With runners on second and third and nobody out, Egan fanned Warner and looked to escape the jam when Jordan made a heady play on a bunt attempt by Chelsey Toney (Waterford, Vt.), as the junior scooped up the slow roller and feigned a throw to first. The runner at third – Hershberger – took the bait on the fake and was caught in a well-executed rundown for the second out. But the play was for naught, as the following batter, Kelly Travers (Whitman, Mass.), drove in Morris with a double to deep left, knotting the game at 4-4.
Unable to produce a baserunner in the bottom of the seventh, the Monks headed for extra-innings versus the Cadets. In the top of the eighth, with Travers placed on second due to the international tie-breaker rule, Egan notched three quick outs to set the stage for what would be a walk-off win.
In the bottom of the eighth, Gleason started on second and was ready to move to third on the customary sac bunt, but when Hendrix missed on a pair of bunt attempts, Coach Smyth called off the play. The senior answered with a line-drive up the middle and Gleason easily scored the winner from second.
For the Monks, Gleason was 2-4 with two runs, an RBI and a stolen base and Hendrix went 2-3 with a run and a pair of RBI. Egan collected her third win of the season after allowing an unearned run off two hits and a walk with a pair of strikeouts in two innings. Boulanger tossed six innings of five-hit ball, allowing three runs with four strikeouts.
Travers, Belcher and Warner recorded two hits apiece for the Cadets while starting pitcher Kaylie Miller (Long Lake, N.Y.) took the loss after giving up five runs (three earned) off five hits and a walk in seven-plus innings of work.
With the results, Saint Joseph's improves to 14-4 in the history of the series with Norwich University and sweeps a twinbill versus the Cadets for the first time since the 2011 season.
The Monks host Thomas College on Tuesday in a non-conference doubleheader slated to start at 5:00 PM. The Cadets play at University of Saint Joseph (CT) in a two-game set beginning at 3:00 PM on Wednesday.
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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.
