PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Saint Joseph's College (9-11, 5-1 GNAC) split a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) softball doubleheader with Johnson & Wales University (19-3, 4-2 GNAC) on Sunday afternoon. The kicked off the day with a 5-2 victory before suffering an 8-0 mercy-rule setback in the nightcap.
GAME ONE:
Junior first baseman Olivia Howe (Arundel, Maine) led the Monks to the opening win by going 3-for-3 with her first collegiate home run and three RBI. Senior catcher Bailey Rassol (Rehoboth, Mass.) was 2-for-4 with a run, a double, and an RBI and junior starter Meredith Pence (Remington, Va.) earned the victory after allowing two runs on five hits and five walks with nine strikeouts in seven innings.
JWU starter Sage Borkowski took the loss and falls to 5-1 on the season after giving up two runs (one earned) off six hits in four innings.
GAME TWO:
The Wildcats held a 1-0 lead through four-and-a-half innings before erupting for five runs in the fifth and two in the sixth to claim the mercy-rule triumph. The Monks mustered just three hits in the setback.
Junior starter Sydney Hatch (Newburgh, Maine) took the loss after giving up three runs on four hits and two walks with three K's in four innings. Junior Emily Eagleston (Reading, Mass.) yielded five runs on five hits with three punch-outs in 1.2 innings of relief.
JWU starter Katie Scheid scattered three hits with eight strikeouts over six innings to improve to 5-1 on the season.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's will play at UMaine-Farmington on Wednesday in a non-conference doubleheader set to begin at 3:00 PM.