Fisher Earns Non-Conference Sweep Over Saints on "Senior Day"

Apr. 26: The St. Lawrence University softball team dropped a pair of non-conference home games on Sunday afternoon to St. John Fisher by the scores of 6-3 and 11-2. The Saints (4-20) recognized five seniors following the games for their contributions to the program during their tenure on campus.

St. Lawrence was able to hang around in game one against the Cardinals (27-9), as sophomore Meg Goodemote gave up only eight hits in seven innings. However, she walked seven hitters, which allowed the visitors to escape with a 6-3 win. Amanda Shevchuk pitched for Fisher, allowing three earned runs on seven hits while striking out eight.

The two teams exchanged runs in the second inning before Fisher regained a lead at 3-1 in the top of the third. Kristi Bradley drilled a homerun to centerfield to make it 2-1 before Carissa Carlson hit an RBI double for a 3-1 Cardinal lead. The visitors then extended that cushion to 5-1 with two more runs in the top of the fifth when Kristin McCoy scored on a wild pitch and Meghan Graves added an RBI single.

St. Lawrence would chip its way back into the game in the bottom of the fifth inning, though, as they responded with two runs to bring the score to 5-3. Goodemote helped herself out with an RBI triple to score rookie Darcy Buckingham from first base, then scored on a St. John Fisher error. However, the offense would stop there for the Scarlet and Brown, as Shevchuk worked out of a one-out jam with runners on first and second to keep the Fisher lead at two runs. The Cardinals added an insurance run in the top of the sixth when Samantha Vara scored on a passed ball after leading off the inning with a double.

Goodemote was outstanding at the plate in game one, finishing 3-for-4 with one run and one RBI. Junior Amy Atkins added a pair of base hits and a run for St. Lawrence while Graves and Bradley each had two hits in the opener for the Cardinals.

Sophomore pitcher Rachel Duffany took the mound for St. Lawrence in game two of the doubleheader, but coming off of her fantastic 10.0 inning outing against Rochester on Saturday, struggled against Fisher's potent offense. The Cardinals scored eight runs against Duffany in 5.1 innings, five of which were earned. Six errors plagued the Saints in game two as well, while Fisher piled up 15 hits against Duffany and Goodemote, who pitched 1.2 innings in relief.

Fisher built a 5-0 lead through 2.5 innings before St. Lawrence got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third. After sophomore Erika Alvarez singled to center, classmate Melissa Rogers hammered a two-out RBI double to pull her team back to within four runs at 5-1. The visitors would respond in style though, as Bradley pounded her second homerun of the day in the top of the fifth, while Katelyn Stubbendeck picked up three RBI's in the final two innings to put the game out of reach.

The Saints' second run in the 11-2 loss came in the bottom of the fifth when Rogers scored from second on an RBI single to centerfield by junior Molly Swan.

Chrissy Capalbo improved to 5-0 on the season for Fisher with a solid outing, allowing two earned runs on six hits in 4.2 innings. Shevchuk was effective in relief, striking out five of the seven batters she faced. Duffany suffered the loss and fell to 4-8 on the year after giving up five earned runs on 11 hits.

Following the doubleheader, St. Lawrence honored three senior student-athletes and two senior assistants for their contributions to the Saints' softball program. Seniors Lilah Brown, Emilie Lannamann and Sandy Gates were recognized alongside Janelle Graves and Meghan Richardson on "Senior Day."

St. Lawrence will look to snap their current four-game losing skid when they welcome Potsdam State to Canton, NY for a make-up doubleheader on Wednesday, April 29 at 3:00pm.