WORCESTER, Mass. - The Saint Anselm College softball team was swept by the Greyhounds of Assumption College in a doubleheader played at Marois Field on Thursday. With the losses, the Hawks fall to 14-20 overall and to 8-10 within Northeast-10 Conference play. The Greyhounds improve to 22-11 and boast a 15-5 record within league play.
Despite a strong pitching performance by freshman Tayla Trask (Lincoln, Maine), the Hawks offense mustered only three hits en route to a 3-0 defeat. In the home half of the fourth inning, shortstop Marissa Palumbo drilled an RBI double to right field, plating third baseman Jess DiPilato with the game's first run. Palumbo later scored on a wild pitch by Trask to lift the Greyhounds to a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, first baseman Ashley Impagliazzo slapped an opposite field single to left field. The ball was not corralled by left fielder Mary Fay (Stoughton, Mass.) as Palumbo scampered home all the way from first base with the third Greyhounds run of the game to conclude the scoring on the afternoon.
Trask collects only her fourth loss of the season, allowing only two earned runs through six innings of work while striking out four Assumption batters. Greyhounds hurler Jennifer Lowrey went the distance for Assumption, striking out 14 batters and allowing zero earned runs for her 10th victory of the year.
Assumption completed the sweep of Saint Anselm in the second game of the doubleheader, taking advantage of six defensive errors by the Hawks to post an 11-5 victory. On the afternoon, the Saint Anselm defense allowed nine errors and six unearned runs through two games.
Saint Anselm held a 1-0 lead through the first period of play as shortstop Nicole Boucher (Woonsocket, R.I.) led off the game with an infield single. Following a stolen base and an advancement to third base, catcher Lauren Galavotti (Marion, Mass.) lofted a sacrifice fly to right field, driving in Boucher with the first run of the game.
Assumption capitalized on two errors in the home half of the first inning, taking a 3-1 lead. With two outs in the inning, two consecutive singles preceded a two-RBI double by center fielder Tanya Robidoux that extended the Assumption lead. An error by center fielder Hayley Lombard (Coral Springs, Fla.) continued the elongated inning as Medeiros crossed home plate with an additional run. With two outs in the inning, Palumbo collected an RBI double to right field to score DiPilato to conclude the five run second inning.
In the home half of the third inning, Robidoux kicked off the inning with a one out single to left field. On the play, an additional Hawks error advanced Robidoux into scoring position. The next batter, left fielder Melissa Jalbert hit an infield single to second base but an error by second baseman Kat Scafidi (Hudson, N.H.) allowed Robidoux to score. An ensuing RBI double by Boris plated Jalbert with an unearned run.
In the Saint Anselm half of the fifth inning, the Hawks answered the Assumption offensive output with four consecutive singles by right fielder Cara Crowley (Lynn, Mass.), Fay, first baseman Olivia Story (Middleton, Mass.) and Scafidi. The single by Scafidi, hit to the third baseman, plated the first two runs of the afternoon for the Hawks. Boucher added an RBI single to center field for the third Saint Anselm run and a passed ball by catcher Kolby Davenport allowed Scafidi to score the fourth and final Hawks run of the day.
The final run of the afternoon crossed home plate in the fifth inning, as Medeiros notched both her third hit and run batted in of the game to score designated player Paige Licata with the 11th run of the game for Assumption.
Hawks pitcher Alexis Bogdanovich (South Portland, Maine) allowed only two earned runs through 1 1/3 innings of action but was saddled with the loss, her ninth of the season, despite striking out three batters in limited action. Paige Cormier (Rochester, N.H.) relieved Bogdanovich and allowed four earned runs in 2 2/3 innings of work, allowing nine hits and striking out one batter. Reliever Aimee LaLancette (Mason, N.H.) pitched effectively in relief, allowing only two hits in two innings while striking out two batters.
Senior pitcher Chelsea Durso collected her fifth victory of the season, striking out a batter per inning through six innings and allowing only one earned run. Reliever Rachel Hedge allowed three earned runs in one inning of relief, allowing five hits across that span.
NOTABLES: Saint Anselm has not been swept by Assumption dating back to Sunday, Apr. 30, 2006…Shortstop Nicole Boucher and right fielder Cara Crowley were the only two Hawks players to collect hits in both games of today's doubleheader…Pitcher Tayla Trask has not allowed more than three earned runs in any contest this season and has allowed two runs or less in her previous 10 appearances…Saint Anselm pitchers have allowed only nine earned runs in their last 24 innings of work for a 2.62 earned run average.
The Hawks return to action Saturday, Apr. 14 as they travel to play the Dolphins of Le Moyne College in a doubleheader commencing at 12:00 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).
