SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Saint Anselm College softball team dropped both games of a doubleheader against the Dolphins of Le Moyne College Saturday afternoon at the Niland Athletic Complex. Saint Anselm has lost four straight games and sports an overall record of 14-22 and an 8-12 mark within Northeast-10 Conference play. The Dolphins improve to 19-23 overall and to 13-9 in league play.
In the first game of the doubleheader, the Hawks relinquished a three run lead en route to a 5-4 loss. Saint Anselm opened the scoring in the top half of the second inning as first baseman Olivia Story (Middleton, Mass.) socked a solo home run to center field to place the Hawks up by a 1-0 score. In the home half of the frame, an error by Hawks right fielder Alexis Bogdanovich (South Portland, Maine) allowed second baseman Kristie Capuano to reach second base. The ensuing single by center fielder Hannah Gatley tied the score at one apiece.
In the visiting half of the fourth inning, the Hawks hung three runs on the board to take a 4-1 lead. Hawks designated player Kristen Peffer (Cumberland, R.I.) led off the inning with a bunt single and then advanced to third base as catcher Morgan Edmonson threw third baseman Hannah Byrne's (Lynn, Mass.) bunt attempt away for an error. On the throw in to the infield following the error, the Le Moyne right fielder made an additional error on the play to plate Peffer. The very next Hawks batter, Story, mashed her second home run of the game to left center field that extended the Saint Anselm advantage.
The Dolphins rallied for two runs off of Hawks starter Tayla Trask (Lincoln, Maine) in the bottom of the next inning. Four straight hits by the bottom half of the lineup plated two runs for Le Moyne before Trask induced a strikeout and a lineout to end the inning. In the next inning, Edmonson doubled to right center field, driving in shortstop Barb Shea who led off the inning with a single up the middle. Edmonson later scored via a wild pitch by Hawks reliever Aimee LaLancette (Mason, N.H.) to round out the scoring.
Trask drew her fifth loss of the season by allowing four earned runs in four innings of work, despite striking out six Dolphins batters. LaLancette struck out two batters in two innings of relief. The Dolphins used a triumvirate of pitchers as starter Brenna Klein worked the first 3 1/3 innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out three Hawks batters. Vanessa Utley earned the win within the circle, pitching 1 2/3 innings while striking out two batters. Sophomore Sarah Harrison earned the save, working the final two innings while striking out three batters.
The Hawks offense mustered only two hits in the second game of the doubleheader as the Dolphins used 10 hits to plate seven runs en route to a 7-0 victory. Le Moyne plated single runs in the first, second, third and fifth innings off of Hawks starter Shannon Dalton (Concord, Mass.). In the first, Shea struck an RBI single to right field while a Demetra Kermidas long ball placed the Dolphins up by a 2-0 margin. A single to left field by Gatley plated Shea in the third while a fielding error by shortstop Nicole Boucher (Woonsocket, R.I.) with two outs in the fifth extended the inning. The very next batter, Edmonson, struck an RBI double to plate the unearned run.
The Dolphins touched Dalton for three runs in the sixth inning as Kermidas homered to center field for two runs batted in and a home run by pinch hitter Amanda Mosich added to the damage in the inning. Bogdanovich entered the game in relief and silenced any further offensive opportunities in the frame.
Dalton drew her fourth loss of the season, allowing six earned runs in five innings of work. Bogdanovich worked a perfect sixth inning, allowing only one hit alongside two strikeouts. Harrison collected her 17th victory of the season, striking out 13 Saint Anselm batters and allowing only two hits en route to the win.
NOTABLES: The Hawks have only one victory against the Dolphins in their last 22 games against Le Moyne College…Three of first baseman Olivia Story's last four hits have been for home runs…She has seven hits on the season and has driven in a team-best 17 runs.
The Hawks return to action Sunday, Apr. 15 as they face-off against the Golden Knights of the College of Saint Rose in a 12:00 p.m. doubleheader. 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).
