MANCHESTER, N.H. – Pattie Turner (Warwick, R.I.) and Hayley Lombard (Boynton Beach, Fla.) recorded RBI singles in the sixth inning to help the Saint Anselm College softball team to a 5-3 come-from-behind win over Southern New Hampshire University, Wednesday evening at the South Athletic Fields in the second game of the day's doubleheader. In game one, the Hawks were edged 4-3 in 11 innings of play.
The Hawks now stand at a record of 18-19 overall and 14-11 in Northeast-10 conference play, while the Penmen move to 27-13 overall and 17-7 in league play. In the Northeast Division, Southern New Hampshire has a record of 14-4 for second place, while Saint Anselm sits in third with a record of 11-6.
The Penmen quickly made a statement in the second game, putting up two runs in their first at bat. The Hawks, however, earned a run back in the fourth with a Hannah Byrne (Lynn, Mass.) home run to left field.
The score remained 2-1 until SNHU took advantage of a pair of singles to put runners on first and third with one out in the sixth. Kate Stanley proceeded to ground out, but plated Cristy Jenkins for the 3-1 lead.
In the bottom half of the inning, Saint Anselm put up four runs to take the lead, 5-3. With one out, Julie LeClair (Taunton, Mass.) singled to left center to begin the rally. Monique Gauthier (Canton, Conn.) followed this up with a double down the left field line, advancing LeClair two bases. Byrne reached on a throwing error and both LeClair and Gauthier scored on the play.
After an Olivia Story (Middleton, Mass.) walk put runners on first and second, Turner singled to score Byrne. Lombard had the final hit of the sequence to score Story and put the Hawks ahead by a pair of runs.
Paige Cormier (Rochester, N.H.) earned the win for Saint Anselm – her third straight – to improve to 10-7. She threw 7.0 innings, while giving up six hits and striking out one.
In the first game, it was not until the 10th inning that either team was able to muster a run. SNHU capitalized on a bunt single and another hit to jump out to the 2-0 lead.
Saint Anselm was able to knot things at two in the bottom of the inning when Nicole Boucher (Woonsocket, R.I.) hit a sac fly to center to score Story. After Lauren Galavotti (Marion, Mass.) doubled to left, LeClair singled to right for the tying run.
The following inning, the Penmen cranked out two more runs to stretch the lead 4-2, but Saint Anselm could only cross one runner in the bottom of the inning, while it left one on base. Byrne laid down a sac bunt to advance Gauthier to third, before she scored on an error by the third baseman.
Starting pitcher Tayla Trask (Lincoln, Maine) threw all eleven innings and struck out nine batters.
The Hawks will return to action Friday, April 26 at 3 p.m. as they play a doubleheader with Merrimack College. The pair of games was originally scheduled for April 20. 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).
