WALTHAM, Mass. – Four different Hawks recorded an RBI and senior hurler Tayla Trask (Lincoln, Maine) put forth another dominant performance inside the circle as the Saint Anselm softball team picked up a season sweep of Bentley University Monday afternoon in Waltham, 4-0.
The win improves Saint Anselm to 12-3 on the year and holds tough at 4-1 in the Northeast-10 Northeast division. Bentley falls to 5-10 overall and 2-4 in the division.
Trask, who recorded 11 strikeouts against the Falcons just this past Saturday, added eight more Monday afternoon. She gave up five hits and issued no walks on the day and faced just 27 batters over seven innings of work.
Bentley threatened in the bottom of the second, putting runners on first and second with one out. Yet Trask responded by inducing a groundout to freshman shortstop Hannah Paitchel (Pelham, N.H.) and silenced the threat with a strikeout to close out the home half of the inning.
Saint Anselm junior Julie LeClair (Taunton, Mass.) was issued a leadoff walk in the top of the fourth and senior Hannah Byrne (Lynn, Mass.) blasted a triple off the deep fence in left-center to score the first run of the game. Freshman Megan Murrell (Scarborough, Maine) tallied an ensuing sacrifice fly to right to score Byrne, who slid under the tag off the relay as the Hawks took a 2-0 lead.
Junior Pattie Turner (Warwick, R.I.) laced a triple over the right fielder that skipped off the fence to lead off the sixth inning, and LeClair added the second Saint Anselm sac fly to take a three-run lead after six.
Junior Michaela Criscione (Franklin, Mass.), who went 2-for-3 on the day with a pair of singles, led off with a shot up the middle in the seventh inning and advanced to second on an ensuing passed ball. Junior Emily Crannell (Wilmington, Mass.), who went 2-for-2 with a sac bunt on the afternoon, picked up another Hawk RBI with a single to right to push the lead to 4-0 after six and a half.
Trask then slammed the door on Bentley in the seventh, inducing a flyout to right and flashing some leather with the final two putouts of the game to improve her season record to 7-1.
Saint Anselm will continue its busy week with three straight double-headers starting Tuesday. The Hawks welcome Stonehill to the South Athletic Fields for a twinbill at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. tomorrow before traveling to Franklin Pierce Wednesday and Saint Michael's Thursday.
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