CLERMONT, Fla.- The Saint Anselm College softball team opened up its season with a pair of losses to Palm Beach Atlantic, 4-2, and Wilmington University, 4-0, Monday afternoon on the first day of action of its spring break trip to Clermont, Fla.
The Hawks will fall to 0-2 on the young season, while Palm Beach Atlantic jumps to 9-12 and Wilmington University now sits at 8-4 for its 2013 campaign.
In the first game of the day's double header, the Sailfish jumped on the board in the top of the first inning when leadoff hitter Brittany Jones worked a walk and advanced to third base on a Chelsie Hersey bunt coupled with a wild pitch. Jones scored on an infield single from Camille Benito, giving Palm Beach Atlantic the 1-0 lead.
The Hawks jump started their offense in the bottom of the third inning when Kasey Moran (Medford, Mass.) led the inning off with an infield single. With one out, Nicole Boucher (Woonsocket, R.I.) singled up the middle to advance Moran to second, however, Sailfish starting pitcher Kayti Lundin retired the next two batters leaving the Hawks with two runners left on base.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Monique Gauthier (Canton, Conn.) singled through the left side to start the inning and advanced to second on a Hannah Byrne (Lynn, Mass.) sacrifice bunt. Gauthier moved to third when Olivia Story (Middleton, Mass.) singled to center field and crossed the plate as Gina Treglia (Fairfield, Conn.) grounded out to third base. Lundin kept Moran to a ground out to avoid further damage.
The Sailfish threatened in the top half of the fifth inning as they had runners on second and third with just one out. Palm Beach Atlantic hit a fly ball to right field, which was caught by Hayley Lombard (Coral Springs, Fla.), who fired home to gun down the runner attempting to score from third.
The Hawks kept the momentum going in the bottom of the fifth when Lombard and Boucher led off the inning with a pair of singles. After a Saint Anselm pop out, Lauren Galavotti (Marion, Mass.) singled to load the bases for Gauthier, who brought home Lombard from third with a sacrifice fly. The bases became loaded for a second time, after a Byrne walk, for Story, who popped out to short to end the inning.
The Sailfish were down to their last strike in the top of the seventh when freshman outfielder Lindsey Johnson hit a three-run homerun, bringing the game to its final score of 4-2.
Saint Anselm pitcher Tayla Trask (Lincoln, Maine) faced 33 batters, struck out three and gave up nine hits over seven innings pitched.
In their second game of the day, the Hawks fell to Wilmington University. 4-0.
The Wildcats of Wilmington jumped out to a 2-0 lead against Saint Anselm starter Paige Cormier (Rochester, N.H.) in the bottom of the second inning. The first three Wildcats that came to the plate singled to load the bases, before Brooke Ash singled to left field driving in one run for a 1-0 Wildcat lead. The Wildcats added another run on a four-pitch walk before Cormier was able to work out of the jam.
Wilmington struck again in the bottom of the fourth inning when infielder Jill Stafford hit a RBI double to deep center field to increase the lead to four. This was all the Wildcats could muster, offensively, as Cormier finished strong through the sixth inning for the Hawks.
The Hawks' bats were silenced by Wildcat pitcher Katie Warrington, who went seven innings, only giving up one hit and striking out 15. The Hawks' best scoring opportunity came in the fourth inning when Boucher led off the inning with a single and then stole second, before Warrington was able to retire the side without any damage.
The Hawks return to action March 5 when they play Concordia (N.Y.) and LIU Post at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., respectively. Stay up-to-date with the latest news, including game previews and recaps, directly from the Saint Anselm College athletic department by liking us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/STAHawks) and following us on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/STAHawks).
