CARR DRIVES IN TEN RUNS AS ROCHESTER

SWEEPS SAINTS ON SENIOR DAY

Apr. 21: The University of Rochester used some timely hitting to sweep the St. Lawrence University softball team on Senior Day in a conference doubleheader on Saturday afternoon. The Yellowjackets (16-5, 4-0) scored 21 of their 23 runs with two outs, including a two-out grand slam off the bat of Sam Carr in the second game as the visitors swept the Saints 11-0 and 12-2.

 

Rochester took an early 2-0 lead in the opening game when Brittany Celeste delivered a two-out double in the top of the second off of St. Lawrence sophomore pitcher Janelle Graves. The offense was plenty for Rochester pitcher Beth Ameno, who was in a nice groove, allowing only one base-runner in three innings of work.

 

The Yellowjackets would put things away in the fourth and fifth innings, as they scored a total of nine runs to blow the game open. The Saints seemed poised to get out of the fourth unscathed after getting Celeste to fly out to second base. However, with the bases loaded, Carr came through with a bases-clearing two-out double and put Rochester ahead 5-0. A single from Jena Robertson would score Carr from third and complete the fourth inning scoring.

 

Though the Saints had runners on first and third with one out in the bottom half of the inning, Robertson, who came in to relieve Ameno on the mound, battled out of trouble with a strike out and a groundout to end the inning.

 

The fifth inning again appeared to be in control for St. Lawrence as they had two outs and runners on first and second. However, the leadoff hitter Jess Sorrentino got the third two out rally of the day started with an RBI single. The Yellowjackets would strike with four consecutive RBI hits off of Graves, plating five runs to cap an impressive 11-0 win.

 

The Saints scattered three hits against Robertson off the bats of sophomore Meghan Richardson, first year student Jess Manderfield, and junior Nicole Bottego. Graves gave up 12 hits and fell to 1-8 on the season, while Ameno earned her sixth win of the year for Rochester.

 

The second game pitted rookie pitcher Asuka Nakayama for St. Lawrence against Rochester’s Carly Hoffend. Though the Yellowjackets scored one run in the first inning, it was in the second frame that Nakayama ran into her first real jam of the day. A one-out single from Celeste loaded the bases and brought Sorrentino to the plate. However, she struck the leadoff hitter out and had a chance to blank the visitors in the inning. Unfortunately, Carr had other ideas. The Yellowjackets’ second baseman drilled a two-out grand slam off of Nakayama that gave Rochester a 5-0 lead at the end of two innings.

 

The Saints offense also struggled to get going against Hoffend, who was perfect through 3.2 innings until allowing a walk to Richardson. She would come right back against sophomore Katie Dreher, though, getting her to ground out to second to end the inning.

 

After Rochester had again tacked on three runs with two outs in the fourth, Nakayama again found herself facing Carr with a runner on first and two outs in the fifth. Carr would again win the battle, crushing a pitch over the centerfield wall for her second homerun of the day to put Rochester ahead 12-2.

 

Though she carried a no hitter into the fifth and what looked to be the final inning, Hoffend gave up a one-out hit to sophomore Lilah Brown, who laced a hard line-drive that caught the pitcher in the arm and forced her to leave the game. After a wild pitch from Ameno let senior Melissa Pittelli and Brown move up to second and third with one out, rookie Amy Atkins connected for an RBI single to score Pittelli. A wild pitch would then allow Brown to come in from third as well and make the score 12-2. Ameno would then end the contest after a solid at bat by junior Sheila Rodriguez with a strikeout.

 

The loss sent Nakayama to 0-2 and the Saints to 6-14-1 on the season. Meanwhile, Hoffend remained unbeaten at 6-0, but was responsible for the two Saint runs.

 

Saturday’s doubleheader was perhaps the final home contests for St. Lawrence University seniors Melissa Pittelli, Yralee Mendez, and Ava Pickering. Because the Potsdam State and Russell Sage games are yet to be determined, Saints head coach Fran Grembowicz and the rest of the squad honored their tri-captains after the game with an on-field ceremony.

 

“I truly don’t know what I’ll do without Yralee, Ava, and Telli next year,” said Grembowicz. “They’ve put everything they have into this program, and I can’t thank them enough for their hard work and leadership.”

 

Unless the games that were cancelled earlier in the season are re-scheduled, the Saints will end their 2007 season on the road next weekend with a pair of Liberty League doubleheaders. The Scarlet and Brown will visit Skidmore College on Saturday, April 28th and then will head to Schenectady, NY to take on Union college on Sunday afternoon.

 

 

SOARING EAGLES RALLY IN BOTH GAMES

TO SWEEP SAINTS IN DOUBLEHEADER

Apr. 20: The St. Lawrence University softball team held leads of 3-0 in the opening game of their doubleheader with Elmira and 4-0 in the second game. However, with clutch hitting performances by Katrina Katen and Jennifer Stickler, the visiting Soaring Eagles rallied to sweep in the Saints in Canton, NY on Friday afternoon with 7-4 and 8-5 (8 innings) victories.

 

The victories moved Elmira to .500 on the season at 6-6, while the Saints fall to 6-12-1 in 2007.

 

St. Lawrence built itself the 3-0 advantage in the opening game against Elmira pitcher Danielle Rash in the opening three innings. The Scarlet and Brown plated two runs in the opening frame when first year student Molly Swan led off with a triple off Rash, and scored on a bunt single by fellow classmate Julia Humphries. Humphries would then come around to score the game’s second run on a single by sophomore Meghan Richardson.

 

After the Saints scored their third run of the game on an RBI groundout by rookie Jessica Manderfield, Elmira regrouped in the top half of the fourth against Saints pitcher Janelle Graves. Katen led off the inning with a single, and scored on a double by Cassandra Bishop in the following at bat. After a single by Stickler, Bishop scored on a sac fly from Britnee McGuire to make the score 4-2 in favor of St. Lawrence. The final Elmira run in the inning came on a single from Jennifer Jenkins, who scored Stickler from second.

 

The Soaring Eagles took the lead in the top of the fifth on a, when Stickler delivered an RBI single to left, scoring pinch runner Kelli O’Connor from second base. However, the Saints would come right back and tie the score in the bottom of the sixth. After rookie Amy Atkins led off the inning with a walk, Swan stepped the plate with two outs against Rash and delivered a key triple to right-centerfield, scoring Atkins and tying the game at 4-4 heading to the seventh inning.

 

Elmira’s hopes to score the lead run seemed in jeopardy when leadoff hitter Kerri Lavender flied out to third base for the second out and Jamie Huntley on second. However, it was Katen who came through with a clutch, two-out double to the gap to score the lead run. After an intentional pass was given to Bishop to set up force out possibilities, Stickler matched Katen’s effort with a double of her own to put the game out of reach, plating both Katen and Bishop for a 7-4 advantage.

 

Rash got the Saints to go down in order in the bottom of seventh to protect the lead and earn her third win of the season. Graves gave up nine hits in seven innings with five strikeouts, but took the loss and fell to 1-7.

 

The two teams would again come down to the wire in the second half of the doubleheader, as they needed eight innings to determine a winner. St. Lawrence used a four-run third inning to give their rookie pitcher Asuka Nakayama a 4-0 lead in her first collegiate pitching appearance. The Scarlet and Brown, leading 2-0 against Elmira’s Kelli O’Connor, sent first year student Jennifer Girard to the plate with two outs and runners and second and third. The Gouverneur, NY native came through, lining an RBI triple to the game in right-centerfield, scoring both Manderfield and junior Nicole Bottego and completing the team’s scoring in the inning.

 

Elmira would again respond, though, scoring two runs in back-to-back innings to knot the score at 4-4. The Soaring Eagles plated two runs in both the fifth and sixth innings, with the tying two runs in the sixth coming on a two-out double by Natalie Lesieur.

 

After neither team could push home a run in the seventh, the game went to extra innings, where the last batter of the previous inning is placed on second base in order to help manufacture runs. The visitors would do just that, plating four runs in the top of the 8th to take a commanding 8-4 lead into the bottom half of the inning. After scoring two runs to grab a 6-4 lead, it was again Katen that would deliver the big blow, knocking in two more runs with a two-out RBI to left field.

 

Though the Saints would score senior Melissa Pittelli, who pinch ran for Bottego at second base, they could not even the score and fell to the Soaring Eagles, 8-5.

 

Though she did allow 10 scattered hits, O’Connor did an excellent job of keeping the Saints off the board after the third inning. She improves to 3-3 on the season and had two strikeouts on the afternoon. Nakayama, who was very solid in her first outing of the season, falls to 0-1.

 

The Scarlet and Brown will look to end a current six game losing streak on Saturday afternoon when they welcome Liberty League foe Rochester to Canton, NY. The Saints and Yellowjackets will begin their conference doubleheader at 1:00pm.