STANDISH, Maine - #1N Saint Joseph's College (19-16) cruised past #3S Johnson & Wales University (21-19), 11-4, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Softball Tournament Pod A matchup at Richard W. Bailey Field on Saturday afternoon.
PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS:
With the victory, Saint Joseph's remains in the winners' bracket and will face Johnson & Wales, which defeated #5N New England College an elimination game later this afternoon, in the Pod A finals tomorrow at 11:00 AM. As the only undefeated team in the pod, the Monks can advance to the GNAC Championship series with a victory. If St. Joe's loses the 11:00 AM tilt, an 'if necessary' contest for all the marbles follows.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
As the away team versus the Wildcats, the Monks struck for two runs without registering a hit in the top of the first inning as the Royal Blue earned four walks and scored on a bases loaded free pass and a sac fly off the bat of sophomore Sadie Tirrell (Naples, Maine).
Saint Joseph's added three runs on two hits and a pair of JWU errors in the top of the second when junior third baseman Sylvia Foley (Scarborough, Maine) roped a two-run single to help list her team to an early 5-0 lead.
The Wildcats finally got on the board in the bottom of the fifth when junior Danielle Floyd (Cheshire, Conn.) singled and scored on a Julia Huzi (Trumbull, Conn.) ground out and junior Mackenzie Clee (Warminster, Pa.) walked and crossed the plate on an SJC throwing error.
Tirrell broke the game open when she stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and two out in the top of the sixth when she blasted a bases-clearing double to left-center, lifting the Monks to an 8-2 advantage.
St. Joe's tacked on three insurance runs off four hits in the top of the seventh, when Chantelle Bouchard (Biddeford, Maine) notched a sac fly and Foley and senior Lydia Goodnough (Kennebunkport, Maine) recorded RBI singles. Johnson & Wales showed some late life with two runs on three hits in the bottom of the seventh, but the effort was too little too late.
IN THE CIRCLE:
Goodnough went the distance to pick up her ninth win of the season and allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits and six walks with two strikeouts.
Clee started the game for the Wildcats but did not make it out of the first inning, as the junior southpaw gave up two runs on three walks in 1/3 inning to take the loss. Sophomore reliever Jillian Reed (Burlington, N.J.) worked 5.1 frames, allowing six runs (two earned) on nine hits and three walks with a pair of punch outs, and senior Sage Borkowski (Oxford, Conn.) yielded three runs on four hits and a walk in 1.1 innings of mop-up duty.
OFF THE BAT:
For the Monks, Foley went 3-4 with a run and three RBI, Tirrell was 3-4 with a double and four RBI, sophomore Hannah Gosselin (Biddeford, Maine) was 1-3 with four runs and two walks, and Abby Carpenter (Bath, Maine) and Charlotte Cloutier (Lewiston, Maine) added two hits apiece.
JWU senior first baseman Hailey Erickson (Calimesa, Calif.) went 2-3 with a run and an RBI and was the Wildcats' only repeat hitter in the setback.
