RINDGE, N.H. - The Saint Anselm College softball team outscored the Ravens of Franklin Pierce University by a 15-to-3 margin en route to two Hawks victories Wednesday afternoon at the Franklin Pierce University softball field. With the wins, the Hawks improve to 14-18 overall and even up their Northeast-10 Conference record at 8-8. The Ravens fall to 9-20 overall on the season and feature a 7-13 record within conference play.
In the opening game of the doubleheader, the Hawks used a strong pitching performance from freshman Tayla Trask (Lincoln, Maine) who allowed only three hits all afternoon alongside two strikeouts for her fifth victory of the season. Offensively, the Hawks rapped out seven hits to bolster Trask's performance.
In the top of the third inning, Saint Anselm struck for two runs to support Trask. First baseman Olivia Story (Middleton, Mass.) drew a walk to open the frame and was pinch run for by Aimee LaLancette (Mason, N.H.). A bunt single by right fielder Hayley Lombard (Coral Springs, Fla.) preceded a fielder's choice by shortstop Nicole Boucher (Woonsocket, R.I.) that erased LaLancette on the play, placing runners on first and second.
Center fielder Monique Gauthier (Canton, Conn.) singled to right field, plating Lombard and advancing Boucher to third base on the throw. Catcher Lauren Galavotti (Marion, Mass.) capped off the inning with an RBI single to right field, driving home Boucher with the second Saint Anselm run.
In the seventh inning, the Hawks added an insurance run as third baseman Hannah Byrne (Lynn, Mass.) reached base on a ground ball to Franklin Pierce second baseman Meaghan O'Neal that was muffed, plating Gauthier with the third run of the afternoon.
With her fifth victory of the season, Trask lowers her earned run average to 1.94 and has not allowed more than two runs in an appearance once. She now leads the entire Northeast-10 Conference with a 1.51 earned run average. For the Ravens, junior pitcher Rachel Allen drew her ninth loss of the season, allowing two earned runs off of seven hits and four strikeouts.
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Hawks rapped 11 hits in the first inning alone as Saint Anselm plated 11 runs in the first inning on the way to a 12-3 victory over the Ravens. The Hawks struck first as Boucher walked prior to a home run by Gauthier that plated two runs for Saint Anselm. With the bases loaded following three straight singles by Galavotti, Byrne and left fielder Mary Fay (Stoughton, Mass.), Story cranked a grand slam to left field to place Saint Anselm in front by a six run margin.
Second baseman Kasey Moran (Medford, Mass.) followed Story's power display with a single, but three straight doubles by Lombard, Boucher and Gauthier scored an additional three runs for the Hawks. Following an RBI single by Galavotti, designated player Kristen Peffer (Cumberland, R.I.) grounded out to second base for an RBI for the 11th run of the inning.
In the home half of the fourth inning, Franklin Pierce added three runs in an attempt to cut into the deficit. Outfielder Rachel Baxter led off the inning with a single up the middle and junior Jessica Furtado doubled to left field, advancing Baxter to third base. Catcher Jamie Verner reached base following an error by Moran at second base, plating the first run of the day for the Ravens. A bunt by left fielder Megan Bird drove in Furtado from third base for the second Ravens run of the day. An infield single by sophomore Ashley Noke scored Verner for the final run of the game for Franklin Pierce.
In the visiting half of the fifth inning, a sacrifice fly by Gauthier scored Moran, who reached on a walk to lead off the inning, for the 12th and final run of the game for Saint Anselm. By plating Moran, Gauthier set a career-high mark with four runs batted in.
In the circle, pitcher Alexis Bogdanovich (South Portland, Maine) drew her second straight victory for Saint Anselm, allowing only one earned run through five innings of work before the game was called due to the run differential between the two teams. Freshman pitcher Jessica Colson was saddled with her eighth loss of the season, allowing six earned runs in the first inning before recording an out.
Classmate Kaitlyn Johnson allowed four earned runs without recording a single out in the first inning before yielding to Allen, who pitched effectively in relief for the Ravens by allowing only one hit the remainder of the game.
NOTABLES: Saint Anselm has now captured eight victories in the last 10 meetings between Franklin Pierce (8-2) and now possesses an all-time record of 44-12 against the Ravens…The last time the Hawks scored 11 runs against the Ravens was on Wednesday, May 2, 2007 as they collected an 11-1 victory against the Ravens at Franklin Pierce…Center fielder Monique Gauthier set a career-high with four runs batted in today…With her first inning grand slam in game two, first baseman Olivia Story set a career-high with four runs batted in…Catcher Lauren Galavotti has a seven game hitting streak, collecting nine hits in 19 at-bats for a .474 batting average during that time frame...The Hawks have now won three straight games for the third time this season.
The Hawks return to action Thursday, Apr. 12 as they face-off against the Greyhounds of Assumption College in a doubleheader beginning at 3:00 p.m. Stay up to date with the latest news directly from the Saint Anselm College athletic department by following the Hawks on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/STAHawks) and Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/STAHawks).
