MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College softball team could not solve Stonehill College hurler Sarah Ropiak in the circle as the Hawks dropped their final home game of the 2015 regular season Wednesday afternoon at South Athletic Field, 8-0.
The loss drops Saint Anselm to 20-8 overall on the year and 11-6 in Northeast-10 action while Stonehill improves to 17-12 overall and 10-6 in divisional play. Most importantly, Wednesday's decision locks the two teams into a virtual tie for second place in the league standings with just a handful of games remaining before the Northeast-10 Conference tournament.
Stonehill's ace baffled the Saint Anselm offense from the pitching rubber, allowing just two hits on the afternoon. Saint Anselm also got off to a rocky start defensively, really setting the tone for the game. The Skyhawks reached base on two contacts that didn't leave the infield and scored the game's first run on Saint Anselm's second error of the inning just eight pitches into the game. Stonehill then got a two-out single to center that made it 2-0 after the opening half of the first inning.
Freshman Megan Murrell's (Scarborough, Maine) two-out hit to center in the bottom of the first, followed by a four-pitch walk issued to junior Pattie Turner (Warwick, R.I.) put two on base, but one of Ropiak's four strikeouts on the day ended the threat.
Stonehill added four more runs off two hits and an error to push the lead to 6-0 after the visitor's half of the fifth before senior Kasey Moran (Medford, Mass.) knocked one just past the outstretched glove of the Stonehill second-baseman and senior Hannah Byrne (Lynn, Mass.) reached on another four-pitch walk to put two on with nobody out. Ropiak then dialed in with a strikeout and induced a pair of groundouts to cut short what was a promising inning for the host Hawks.
Sophomore Sam Hennequin (Auburn, N.H.) came in on relief of senior Tayla Trask (Lincoln, Maine) in the top of the sixth, giving up one run in each of the sixth and seventh innings to reach the final eight-run result. Hennequin recorded a pair of strikeouts while Trask added one, the latter taking the losing decision.
Saint Anselm will close out the season with four straight road games, beginning Thursday afternoon at Southern New Hampshire University in a 4 p.m. Queen City Cup rivalry matchup. The Hawks will then battle Merrimack in a three-game series on Friday and Saturday in North Andover.
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