RENSSELAER SWEEPS SAINTS IN

LIBERTY LEAGUE OPENERS

April 13: The St. Lawrence University softball team dropped both games of its Sunday doubleheader to Rensselaer in Troy, NY by the scores of 10-2 (5) and 8-0 (5). The Red Hawks’ pitching staff allowed on six hits all afternoon, and used three big innings to sweep the Scarlet and Brown.

 

In the opener, St. Lawrence earned a 1-0 lead off of RPI pitcher Michelle Street in the top half of the first inning. After consecutive singles by rookie Melissa Rogers and sophomore Jessica Manderfield, Street walked junior Meghan Richardson and sophomore Molly Swan to plate the first run of the afternoon.

 

However, Saints’ rookie pitcher Meg Goodemote would run into trouble in the first inning as well, allowing four runs on four hits and one error with the big hit coming off the bat of Beth Gargon with an RBI double to make the score 4-1 Red Hawks.

 

Though St. Lawrence would tally another run in the second inning, the four runs would be enough for the home team as Street and Felicia Bua would combine for the three-hitter. The Saints made the score 4-2 when Manderfield hit a sac fly to center, scoring sophomore Amy Atkins.

 

Rensselaer would get that run back and then some in the third and fourth innings off of Goodemore, building their lead to 9-2. After back-to-back singles in the third, Natalie Gendron hit an RBI single to score Gargon. The Red Hawks would then score four more in the fourth thanks to a two-run homerun by Jen Bach and a two-run double by Logan Russell.

 

After the Saints went down in order in both the fourth and fifth innings, Bach would end the game with a one-out RBI single to bring the score to its final of 10-2.

 

Street earned the win after pitching three innings, allowing three hits and two earned runs, though Bua was sharp in relief, allowing no hits in two innings. Goodemote (3-5) suffered the loss after allowing 10 runs on 12 hits and 5 walks in 4.1 innings.

 

In the second half of the double header, all of Rensselaer’s offense came in the first inning off of St. Lawrence rookie pitcher Rachel Duffany as the Red Hawks scored eight runs on seven hits and three errors, with three of the runs came on a homerun by Genevieve Falco. The 8-0 cushion was more than enough for Michelle Bianchetti, who allowed only three base-runners in the contest.

 

St. Lawrence was unable to manufacture any runs against the Red Hawks, with hits coming from Swan and Atkins (2). Because the Saints couldn’t close the gap after five innings, Rensselaer earned the sweep to improve to 19-3 on the season and 2-0 in Liberty League play.

 

Bianchetti struck out four in 5.0 innings of work to improve to 6-1 this season, while Duffany allowed only one hit after the first inning, but falls to 0-8 on the 2008 campaign.

 

St. Lawrence will look to snap their nine-game losing streak when they welcome Hamilton College to Canton, NY for a doubleheader on Wednesday, April 16 beginning at 4:00pm.

 

PLATTSBURGH STATE SPOILS SAINTS’

HOME OPENERS 9-2 AND 11-0

April 8: The St. Lawrence University softball team played their first two home games of the season on Tuesday evening, as the Saints hosted Plattsburgh State to a non-conference doubleheader at Saints Softball Field. The Cardinals spoiled the home openers, though, defeating the Scarlet and Brown 9-2 and 11-0.

 

The defeats extend St. Lawrence’s losing streak to seven games and drops the team’s record to 3-11. Plattsburgh improved to 11-9 overall with the back-to-back wins.

 

The Saints hung around against the Cardinals in the opening game, cutting Plattsburgh’s early lead to 3-1 in the fourth inning. First year student Vicki Antanavige landed on first base after a single to right, and advanced on a ground out by sophomore Amy Atkins. Antanavige would then come around to score on a two-out hit by fellow rookie Laura Byer to centerfield, pulling St. Lawrence to within two runs.

 

First year pitcher Meg Goodemote did a nice job of keeping the Cardinals in check throughout the contest, though Plattsburgh would pad their lead in the sixth inning with two runs to bring the score to 5-1. St. Lawrence had a chance to again cut into their lead in the bottom half of the sixth, but with runners on first and second, Byer was unable to come up with the timely hit, grounding out to Plattsburgh State pitcher Stephanie Zweig.

 

Plattsburgh State would tack on four insurance runs to put the opening game out of reach, with RBI’s coming off the bats of Tiffany Burek (2) and Amy Woo (2) to make the score 9-1. St. Lawrence would add one run in the bottom of the seventh inning, as sophomore Molly Swan singled home Goodemote after the pitcher laced a triple to left.

 

Both teams finished the opening game with 11 hits, but St. Lawrence left 10 runners on base to come up short in the loss. Zweig improved to 6-4 on the season, while Goodemote fell to 3-4.

 

Plattsburgh State would again jump out to a lead in the second game, scoring twice in both the top of the third and fourth innings. Danielle Gjergji hit a two-out, two RBI triple in the third off of St. Lawrence rookie pitcher Rachel Duffany (0-7) and Corrine Gioia added an RBI single to plate two in the fourth.

 

The 4-0 lead was more than enough for Plattsburgh hurler Jaclyn Leitze, who was perfect through five innings of play.

 

The Cardinals used a seven-run top half of the sixth to put the game out of reach and put the focus on Leitze as she attempted to finish off a perfect game. However, Atkins broke up the bid with a line drive single to center field, spoiling both the perfect game and no hit effort. Though Atkins’ hit was followed by one from Byer, the Saints were unable to manufacture runs and the game was called after six innings with the score at 11-0.

 

Leitze improved to 5-5 on the season, striking out 12 St. Lawrence batters in game two. Duffany, meanwhile, allowed 16 hits and nine earned runs with two strike outs.

 

The Saints will turn their attention to conference play as they head to Troy, NY for a doubleheader against Rensselaer on Sunday, April 13.