PADENI DELIVERS GAME-WINNING HIT

IN BOTTOM OF THE SEVENTH

Apr. 3: With the score tied at 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh, first year student Jenna Padeni drove home fellow rookie Jennifer Girard with a bases loaded single to right field, giving the St. Lawrence University softball team a 5-4 win over Potsdam State at the Saints Softball Field on Tuesday evening. Though originally the two teams were scheduled for a doubleheader, the second game was called due to darkness.

 

Potsdam State held a 2-1 advantage after the first inning, as Jocelyne Cole doubled home Toni Blevins off of St. Lawrence senior pitcher Ava Pickering in the top half of the first. Cole would then come around to score on an error, giving the Bears an early 2-0 lead.

 

The Saints would cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the inning thanks to first year student Molly Swan, who used heads-up base-running and stole home with junior Nicole Bottego at the plate.

 

Though Pickering coasted through the fifth inning, Potsdam State pitcher Megan Strough ran into trouble in the Saints batting order in the fourth. After a walk to Padeni landed her on the base paths, the rookie moved to third on a steal and a passed ball. After Picking reached on a fielder’s choice, senior captain Yralee Mendez reached base on an error by Potsdam’s third basemen. The error scored both Padeni and Pickering, giving St. Lawrence a 3-2 lead.

 

The Saints would tack on one more in the inning when Swan singled home Mendez after the New York, NY native had advanced to second base on the previous error.

 

Trailing 4-2 in the top of the sixth, Potsdam rallied to tie the score behind solid hitting from the meat of their order. After Blevins walked and Cole singled, Stephanie Bibbens loaded the bases with a walk issued by Pickering. After Ashley McCoy hit a sacrifice fly to left, Blevins scored to make it 4-3. However, St. Lawrence seemed to have Cole picked off at third, but Pickering’s throw to third baseman Jessica Manderfield was misplayed, and the tying run scored as the ball rolled back into left field.

 

The veteran pitcher did not get rattled, though, and Pickering was able to keep the score tied by striking out Molly Flynn and getting Morgan Johnston to ground out to the shortstop.

 

After both the Saints and Bears went scoreless in the bottom of the sixth and top of the seventh, respectively, sophomore Meghan Richardson got the Scarlet and Brown started in the bottom of the seventh with a base hit to left field. After Manderfield walked, Bottego came to the plate and was also issued a free pass by Strough to load the bases for Padeni. The Jaffrey, NH native did not disappoint, lacing a base hit down the right field line that easily scored Girard, a pinch runner, from third to give the Saints a hard-fought 5-4 victory.

 

“I thought we really ran the base paths well today, and came up with some clutch plays on both sides of the ball,” said head coach Fran Grembowicz. “Ava did a nice job keeping the score tied in the sixth, and Jenna delivered at a key moment when we needed her.”

 

Pickering earned the victory and moved to 5-3-1 on the season, while allowing four runs on three hits and notching four strike outs. Strough took the loss, giving up six hits and five runs and allowing eight walks.

 

Swan finished with a solid outing for the Saints, going 2-for-3, while Richardson also collected two hits on the day.

 

The second game of tonight’s doubleheader was called due to darkness in the fifth inning. The game will be replayed in its entirety at a date to be determined.

 

St. Lawrence ( 6-6-1) will have the remainder of the week off, and will be in action again next week, Tuesday, April 10 th for a doubleheader against Plattsburgh State in Plattsburgh, NY. The games are scheduled to begin at 3:30pm.

 

 

 

SAINTS DROP TWO AGAINST FISHER

IN OPENING HOME SERIES

Apr. 1: The St. Lawrence University softball team played their first two home contests of the 2007 season on Sunday afternoon against St. John Fisher. The Saints took an early lead in the first game, but were unable to hold on and fell 4-1 to the Cardinals. The visitors then rode strong pitching performances from Amanda Shevchuk and Jessica Maurer to earn the sweep over the Scarlet and Brown, 3-0.

 

The two losses moved St. Lawrence to 5-6-1 on the season, while St. John Fisher improved to 9-7 overall.

 

The Saints got on the board in the bottom half of the first inning in game one of the doubleheader when an errant throw from the Cardinal shortstop allowed sophomore Meghan Richardson to score from first. However, the run would be the Saints last, as Fisher would not have another error the rest of the afternoon and allowed only six more hits.

 

Though senior pitcher Ava Pickering kept the Cardinals off the scoreboard through two innings, she ran into some trouble in the top of the third with two outs and Jonna Gerigitan on third. Leadoff hitter Kate Maurer came to the plate and sent an RBI triple to centerfield, evening the score at 1-1. St. John Fisher wasn’t done though, as Sara Dresser would deliver two more runs with a double after Pickering walked Sarah Gates to make the score 3-1 in favor of the visitors.

 

After the Saints stranded rookie Amy Atkins in the bottom of the third, the Cardinals would plate an insurance run in the fourth when Gerigitan drove in Laura Paul on a single to center. The 4-1 lead proved to be enough, as Fisher pitcher Jessica Maurer would allow only one more St. Lawrence base-runner on her way to her second win of the season. Pickering, who gave up five hits in seven innings of work, took the loss and fell to 4-3.

 

In the second half of the doubleheader, Fisher took an early 1-0 lead in the second inning when a leadoff single by Kristi Bradley would come back to hurt the Saints, as she would score the game’s first run on a single by Nicole Watkins off St. Lawrence pitcher Janelle Graves. However, Graves would hold a very talented Cardinal lineup to only the one run through six innings, and allowed her team two excellent chances to even the score later in the game.

 

Still trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth, the Saints loaded the bases when Atkins singled and first year students Jennifer Girard and Jenna Padeni earned a two-out walks. However, Shevchuk got Richardson to hit a grounder back to her at the mound to end the inning and protect the coveted one run lead.

 

After Graves held the Cardinals in the top half of the sixth, St. Lawrence would threaten again in the bottom half, putting runners on first and second with no one out, forcing Shevchuk to leave the game in favor of Maurer. This time, the game one winner was outstanding in relief, getting her team out of the jam with a fly out, a pop out to the catcher, and a strikeout.

 

St. John Fisher would score twice in the top of the seventh to make it a 3-0 game, and Maurer pitched a perfect bottom half of the inning to earn her second save of the season and give the visiting Cardinals a sweep of the Saints.

 

“We simply couldn’t string our hits together today to produce runs,” said Saints head coach Fran Grembowicz. “ St. John Fisher is a good team, and I thought we hung with them all day. Ava and Janelle gave us two quality starts and kept us in both games, we just didn’t give them the run support today.”

 

Graves took the loss and fell to 1-3 after allowing seven hits and two earned runs. Meanwhile, her counterpart Shevchuk improved to 5-3 on the season after collecting six strikeouts and allowing five hits.

 

The Saints will look for their first home wins of the season when they host Potsdam State on Tuesday,

April 3rd. The two North Country rivals will begin their doubleheader at 4:00pm.