Manchester, N.H. (April 13) -- In a pair of
close games on Tuesday afternoon, the Saint Anselm softball team
was swept by crosstown rival Southern New Hampshire by scores of
5-3 and 3-2. Saint Anselm falls to 13-15 overall and 6-8 in
Northeast-10 Conference play with the pair of losses.
In game one, Southern New Hampshire scored single runs in the
first and the second innings for an early 2-0 lead. Elena
Anderson hit a one-out double to right field in the first
and was driven in by a single to left center by Melissa
Pessotti. In the second, Kelsea Cheney
reached base on a double to left field and eventually scored an
unearned run for the 2-0 lead.
Saint Anselm took a 3-2 lead with a homer by Lizzy
LeBrun (Rowley, Mass.) in the fourth and a pair of two-out
homers in the fifth for the one-run edge. Jackie Giannino
(Beverly, Mass.) hit her fourth homer of the season to
center field, followed by a home run to left by Liz Trafton
(Berwick, Maine).
In the fifth, Anderson reached base with a leadoff hit by pitch
and came home on a sacrifice fly by Melissa
Vitagliano. Tied at 3-3 heading into the bottom of the
sixth, Andrea Clausi home to center for the 4-3
lead and Katie Stanley homered to right center for
the 5-3 final.
Saint Anselm senior Megan Lemire (Worcester,
Mass.) went 5.1 innings and took the loss, falling to 5-6
overall. She scattered 10 hits while allowing five runs, including
four earned, and striking out four. Kelsey Griffin
went the distance for Southern N.H. for the win, giving up nine
hits and three earned runs to sit at 6-8 for the season.
Giannino was one of three Hawks with multiple hits as she
finished 3-for-4 with one run scored and one RBI.
In the second game, the Hawks got out to a 1-0 lead with two
outs in the first on a solo homer to left center by Giannino,
stretching her hitting streak to 10 games. Saint Anselm and starter
Lisa Caruso (Granby, Conn.) kept the Penmen off
the scoreboard until the bottom of the fifth as Danielle
Watts reached on a walk before Stanley jacked a two-run
homer to center for the 2-1 lead on her seventh round tripper of
the season.
Saint Anselm evened things up in the sixth as Giannino came home
on a fielders choice by junior Raylyn Glavin (Saugus,
Mass.). The Penmen put together a single run in the
bottom of the seventh though, with Griffin reaching base on a walk
before Jessica Berardi pinch ran for the Penmen.
After advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt and to third on a
ground out before Anderson single down the left field line to score
Berardi with the winning run.
Griffin pitched 1.2 innings of relief for the win to improve to
7-8 on the season for the Penmen. Saint Anselm freshman
Shannon Dalton (Concord, Mass.) took the loss for
the Hawks after she relieved Caruso, throwing 2.2 innings and
allowing one earned run on one hit to fall to 3-5 overall.
Saint Anselm returns to action on Saturday, April 17th as the
Hawks host Pace for a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
