STANDISH, Maine - #3 Suffolk University (27-15) posted a pair of Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Softball Tournament victories at Richard W. Bailey Field on Thursday afternoon. The Rams defeated #6 Norwich University (15-20-1), 4-0, in the 3:00 PM game and topped #2 Saint Joseph's College (21-16), 5-2, in the second contest.
With the victories, Suffolk advances to play top-seeded Johnson & Wales University in a winner's bracket game Saturday at 3:00 PM. With the setbacks, Saint Joseph's and Norwich enter the losers' bracket with elimination games to follow Saturday, when Cadets take on Albertus Magnus College at 10:00 AM and the Monks face Simmons College at 12:30 PM. All remaining GNAC tourney games will be played at Johnson & Wales.
GAME 2 – SUFFOLK 5, SAINT JOSEPH'S 2
Suffolk grabbed an early lead in their second contest of the day, as sophomore Jill Pulek (Cheshire, Conn.) doubled home Flint in the top of the first.
The Monks tied the game in the bottom of the third when senior Carla Tripp (Lovell, Maine) singled and scored when senior catcher Jennifer Murphy (Andover, Mass.) hit into a double play.
The 1-1 tie remained until the top of the sixth, when senior first baseman Lindsay Pagano (Wyckoff, N.J.) strode to the plate with the bases loaded and launched a Kristal Smith (Pittston, Maine) offering over the left field wall for a grand slam.
Trailing 5-1, St. Joe's managed to get a run back in the bottom of the sixth when Smith plated pinch runner Joelle Casey (Kittery, Maine) with a single up the middle. The Monks stranded a pair of baserunners in the sixth and had the bases loaded in the seventh, but could not capitalize.
SJC senior starter Kylie McFadden (Dover, N.H.) falls to 10-7 after allowing three runs off six hits and two walks with a pair of K's in 5.1 innings. Suffolk junior Taylor Holmes (Ashford, Conn.) improves to 12-7 on the year after yielding two runs off seven hits off four walks with three punch-outs in 6.2 innings. Yamakaitis recorded the final out to pick up her first save of the season.
GAME 1 – SUFFOLK 4, NORWICH 0
Mired in a scoreless stalemate going into the bottom of the third, the Rams plated a pair when junior catcher Delaney Sylvester (Worcester, Mass.) knocked in Jaclyn Flint (Medfield, Mass.) and Sydney Littlefield (Methuen, Mass.) with a single to right field. Flint made it a 4-0 game with a two-run single of her own in the bottom of the fourth.
Suffolk junior starting pitcher Ali Yamakaitis (Avenel, N.J.) spun a gem, scattering three hits with four walks and five strikeouts in a complete-game effort. She improves to 10-8 on the year with the triumph.
Norwich sophomore starter Rachel Johnson (Stockbridge, Vt.) falls to 10-8 on the season after allowing four runs on five hits and five walks with four punch-outs in six frames.
Flint was the lone repeat-hitter for either team after going 2-4 with a run and a pair of RBI.
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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.
