CLICK HERE FOR A PHOTO GALLERY OF THE DAY'S ACTION
CLERMONT, Fla. - The Saint Anselm College softball team won their morning contest against Saint Xavier University with a 5-4 extra inning score, but dropped both afternoon contests against Florida Southern College by margins of 7-1 and 4-0, respectively. In five games at the National Training Center to open the season, the Hawks have an overall record of 3-2. Saint Xavier concluded their game against the Hawks with a 2-3 record while Florida Southern wraps up their Tuesday schedule of games with an 11-2 record.
Saint Anselm posted a walk-off victory in the 9:00 a.m. contest against the Cougars of Saint Xavier, as first baseman Olivia Story (Middleton, Mass.) slapped a ground ball to short that was not fielded cleanly by shortstop Ashley Hunter, plating Hawks shortstop Nicole Boucher (Woonsocket, R.I.) with the game's winning run in a 5-4 victory.
Earlier in the game, both teams traded runs in their respective halves of the first inning. A lead-off double by outfielder Shannon Lauret preceded a sacrifice bunt by Megan James, advancing the baserunner to third. Hawks pitcher Shannon Dalton (Concord, Mass.), making her season debut for Saint Anselm, induced an infield pop-up before allowing an RBI single to Ashley Hunter to drive in Lauret for the game's first run.
Saint Anselm collected a run via a Saint Xavier fielding error in the bottom of the first inning, as Cougars pitcher Megan Nonnemacher committed an error that allowed Boucher to score to tie the game at one apiece. In the second inning, the Hawks took advantage of an additional Cougars miscue, as third baseman Hannah Byrne (Lynn, Mass.) was awarded home plate following an illegal pitch by Nonnemacher to place Saint Anselm ahead by a 2-1 spread. A Kasey Moran (Medford, Mass.) triple and a Boucher sacrifice fly plated two more runs in the later part of the second inning for Saint Anselm.
In the top half of the sixth inning, Saint Xavier plated three runs off of two Saint Anselm pitchers to knot the score at four apiece. Dalton exited the game after facing two batters without recording an out, yielding to freshman Aimee LaLancette (Mason, N.H.). A sacrifice fly by Ariel Hinton drove in a run while two separate RBI singles by Hunter and second baseman Holly Hilden knotted the game.
Three different pitchers took to the mound for Saint Anselm, as Dalton hurled the first five innings while allowing three earned runs while striking out three batters. In the sixth inning, LaLancette allowed three hits and one earned run. Tayla Trask (Lincoln, Maine) earned the relief victory, striking out three batters while pitching two hitless innings to cap off the game. Nonnemacher was saddled with the loss, striking out 11 batters but allowing five runs to score in 7 2/3 innings pitched.
In the middle game of Tuesday's full schedule of action for the Hawks, the Moccasins of Florida Southern College defeated Saint Anselm by a 7-1 margin. The lone Saint Anselm run of the game came in the first inning, as the Hawks scored first courtesy of a Monique Gauthier (Canton, Conn.) RBI double to left-center field, driving in Boucher.
Starting pitcher Alexis Bogdanovich (South Portland, Maine) allowed five earned runs, including four runs in the top of the fourth inning to place the game out of reach near the midpoint. A Brittany Martin home run led off the inning, placing Florida Southern out in front by a 3-1 margin. Dayna Hunn tripled to right center field, plating two additional runs prior to stealing home to further extend the Moccasins advantage.
Freshman hurler Paige Cormier (Rochester, N.H.) relieved Bogdanovich and temporarily silenced the Moccasins offense, pitching three scoreless innings while striking out one Florida Southern batter. Hayley Leclaire (Hudson Falls, N.Y.) pitched the seventh inning, allowing an RBI double to Sam Gale to add insurance runs late in the contest.
Bogdanovich collected only her first loss of the season, allowing five earned runs through three innings of work. For Florida Southern, pitcher Christine Clark struck out six Hawks during a complete game effort.
At 3:00 p.m., Saint Anselm once against faced-off against the Moccasins of Florida Southern College. In the rubber game of the day, the Hawks were shut-out for only the first time this season as pitcher Lauren Wolfe held Saint Anselm to only five hits in the contest. In the first inning, the first two batters of the game bunted and then successfully stole bases to set up the first inning's runs. With runners now in scoring position, two RBI groundouts by Randi Grimes and Martin plated runs to open the game.
In the third inning, Trask relieved Cormier and allowed her first run of the season after firing a wild pitch past Hawks catcher Lauren Galavotti (Marion, Mass.). Later in the contest, another RBI groundout by Martin in the fifth inning plated Karlyn Scott with the game's fourth and final run.
Cormier (2-1) drew her first loss of the season, allowing three earned runs through two innings. In relief, Trask mowed down seven Moccasins while only allowing one hit in four innings of work. For Florida Southern, Wolfe struck out six batters in a complete game victory.
NOTABLES: Through five games, freshman Noelle Lussier (Worcester, Mass.) leads the team with a .600 batting average, recording three hits in five at-bats on the year…Pitcher Tayla Trask leads the team with 13 strikeouts to her credit in a team-leading 12 innings pitched…With hits in the first two games of the day, centerfielder Monique Gauthier recorded a five-game hitting streak dating back to last season, collecting six hits across 16 at-bats (6-for-16, .375) across that span…As a staff, the Hawks pitchers have only allowed three walks in five games.
The Hawks continue their Florida schedule of games on Thursday, Mar. 1 as they face-off against Gannon University, Wilmington (Del.) University and the University of Mary in the trip's second tripleheader. Follow along with all of the action via our Live Stats application, available by clicking here. Stay up to date with the latest news directly from the Saint Anselm College athletic department by joining the Hawks on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/STAHawks) and Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/STAHawks).
Photos courtesy of Saint Anselm College student-assistant Joe Gill.
