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.
SAINTS TEST ROCHESTER IN DOUBLEHEADER,
FALL 7-1 AND 3-2
Apr. 25: The St. Lawrence University softball team gave the defending two-time Liberty League champion, the University of Rochester, all it could handle in a doubleheader at Saints Softball Field in Canton, NY on Saturday. After dropping the opening game 7-1, St. Lawrence battled Rochester to a 10-inning contest in game two which the Yellowjackets pulled out 3-2.
St. Lawrence sophomore pitcher Rachel Duffany was outstanding in game two for the Scarlet and Brown, throwing 10.0 innings while allowing three hits and no earned runs. However, she was out-dueled by the Rochester combination of Sara Hutchinson and Beth Ameno, who totaled 17 strikeouts while scattering eight hits in the winning effort.
“Rachel (Duffany) really got into a nice groove during game two and kept one of our league’s best offenses off the scoreboard for nine full innings,” said St. Lawrence head coach Fran Grembowicz. “We hurt ourselves with seven errors in the doubleheader and they proved to be costly in both games.”
Rochester cruised to a 7-1 win in game one, as Ameno allowed only one base-runner in five innings pitched. Cara Celorio replaced her in the sixth inning and allowed one run on two hits, but the Yellowjackets’ offense had already done damage against St. Lawrence sophomore hurler Meg Goodemote. Leading 3-0 in the sixth inning, Rochester’s Kim Grimes delivered a three-run triple to put the game out of reach, while Elizabeth Slupinski followed with an RBI double to make it 7-0.
The Saints picked up their lone run in the bottom of the seventh inning when senior Sandy Gates lifted a sacrifice fly to center field which allowed junior Amy Atkins to score from third.
Ameno struck out 10 batters to earn the game one win, while Goodemote gave up five earned runs on eight hits to fall to 0-11 on the season.
Game two proved to be a pitcher’s duel between Hutchinson and Duffany, as they each worked in and out of trouble throughout the game. The Saints loaded the bases in the bottom of the first inning but came away empty, then left two runners on in the second. Meanwhile, Rochester had runners on first and second with no one out but couldn’t capitalize in the top of the fourth inning.
The Saints’ best chance to take the lead came in the bottom of the sixth, when junior Molly Swan led off with a walk against Hutchinson and senior Emilie Lannamann reached on an error that allowed Swan to move to third with no one out. However, Hutchinson and the Yellowjackets’ defense buckled down, getting two shallow fly outs and a strike out to strand the lead run at third base.
Both teams continued to strand runners through the ninth inning, as Ameno, who replaced Hutchinson in the seventh, battled Duffany in the later innings. In the tenth inning, each team started with a runner at second base. Duffany hit the first hitter she faced and then overthrew third to load the bases with no one out. The game’s opening run came on a sac fly off the bat of Brittany Celeste to put Rochester on top 1-0, while Ameno followed with an RBI ground out for a 2-0 advantage. The Yellowjackets then capitalized on a dropped fly ball in right field which would’ve ended the inning and instead gave the visitors a 3-0 lead heading to the bottom of the 10th.
Senior Lilah Brown led off the Saints’ half of the inning with a single that allowed sophomore Melissa Rogers to head to third base. Rogers would score on an errant throw after the Yellowjackets recorded their first out to make it 3-1, while Swan followed with an RBI single to plate Brown to bring the score to 3-2. After Swan advanced to second on a passed ball, though, Ameno was able to put the game away with a strikeout and a ground out to allow the Yellowjackets to celebrate a hard-fought 3-2 victory over the Saints.
Swan finished with two hits and an RBI for St. Lawrence, while Brown added two hits as well. Katie McLean, Nikki DiSalvio and Celeste posted Rochester’s three hits off of Duffany, who fell to 4-7 with the loss.
St. Lawrence will be in action again tomorrow when they celebrate “Senior Day” against St. John Fisher at 1:00pm. The team will honor seniors Lilah Brown, Emilie Lannamann and Sandy Gates along with student assistants Meghan Richardson and Janelle Graves.
