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MANCHESTER, N.H. - The Saint Anselm College softball team split Saturday afternoon's season finale with the Panthers of Adelphi University at the South Athletic Fields. With the split, the Hawks conclude their season with a 19-27 record alongside a 13-17 mark within the Northeast-10 Conference. The Panthers advance to the postseason with an overall mark of 31-17-1 and a 20-8 record within the NE-10. Graduating senior student-athletes Mary Fay (Stoughton, Mass.) and Kat Scafidi (Hudson, N.H.) were honored in a pre-game ceremony for their contributions to the program.
The Hawks dropped the opening game of Saturday's doubleheader by a 3-1 margin despite a strong pitching performance by starter Shannon Dalton (Concord, Mass.). Saint Anselm scored their lone run of the game in the bottom of the first inning as center fielder Monique Gauthier (Canton, Conn.) lined a solo home run to left field to open the scoring for either side. In the next half inning, however, shortstop Jeanine Leo singled to left-center field to score left fielder Kayla Rieger for the game-tying run.
Adelphi utilized the long ball in the visiting half of the sixth inning as both first baseman Amanda Krier and designated player Katie Andrews homered to grant the Panthers a 3-1 lead of which they would not relinquish.
Dalton (1-5) drew her fifth loss, allowing three runs through 5 1/3 innings of work. Freshman Paige Cormier (Rochester, N.H.) pitched effectively in relief, allowing zero earned runs through 1 2/3 innings. For the Panthers, starter Devon Kelly earned her 14th victory of the season, allowing only two Saint Anselm hits in the contest across seven innings.
Saint Anselm flipped the score on the Panthers in game two, posting a 3-1 victory of their own to conclude the regular season. In the home half of the fourth inning, Saint Anselm scored their first run of the game courtesy of a Scafidi sacrifice fly to left field that plated pinch runner Danielle DiBiase (South Portland, Maine) who pinch ran for third baseman Hannah Byrne (Lynn, Mass.) after reaching on a one-out single.
In the home half of the fifth inning, Saint Anselm took advantage of shortstop Nicole Boucher's (Woonsocket, R.I.) leadoff single. The speedy shortstop swiped second base and later scored on a single up the middle by catcher Lauren Galavotti (Marion, Mass.). After stealing second base, Galavotti advanced to third on a passed ball by Panthers catcher Meghan Heiser. Byrne came through and delivered an RBI single to right center field that scored Galavotti with the third Saint Anselm run of the game.
Adelphi found their way onto the scoreboard in the top of the sixth inning as third baseman Victoria Wink led off the inning with a single. Advancing to second base on an error by the Hawks, she later came around to score on an Andrews single to left field to cut into the deficit.
Hawks pitcher Tayla Trask (Lincoln, Mass.) earned her eighth victory of the season (8-7), pitching seven strong innings and allowing zero earned runs while striking out five Adelphi batters. Panthers pitcher Laurin Watts (8-7) drew her seventh loss of the year, allowing one earned run through five innings while striking out six. Andrews pitched the home half of the sixth inning, striking out one Saint Anselm batter in one inning of work.
NOTABLES: Right fielder Kristen Peffer (Cumberland, R.I.) concludes her season riding a seven game hitting streak, batting .364 (8-for-22) across her last 22 at-bats…Saint Anselm concludes their season with a 7-5 record at the South Athletic Fields, their fewest total amount of losses at home dating back to the 2007 season in which they also only had five home losses - it is their best home record dating back to the 2004 season in which the team went 9-5 at the South Athletic Fields…Hawks pitcher Tayla Trask concludes her season with a 2.30 earned run average, ranking her seventh overall in the Northeast-10 Conference…Shortstop Nicole Boucher concluded her sophomore campaign with 53 hits (a career high mark), ranking her just outside the top-10 to tie for 11th place in the conference in that category…Catcher Lauren Galavotti set career-high marks in batting average (.323), hits (42) and stolen bases (10-for-11) this year...Center fielder Monique Gauthier batted a career-best .285 (39-for-137) this season, posting career-bests in hits (39), home runs (5), runs batted in (17) and stolen bases (9).
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