MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College softball team's four seniors combined to go 14-for-23 at the plate on Senior Day as the Hawks swept Bentley 2-1 and 13-6 in six innings in Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division play on Saturday afternoon at South Athletic Fields.
Saint Anselm 2, Bentley 1 | Box
Saint Anselm (11-22, 7-13 NE-10) scored two early runs and Sam Hennequin and Arika Brochu combined to toss a seven-hitter to help the Hawks edge Bentley (12-17, 10-8 NE-10) in a pitcher's duel in game one.
Freshman Jordan O'Connor knocked in the game's first run with two outs in the bottom of the second with a double over the first baseman's head and in front of the right fielder to score Julie LeClair, who had walked to start the inning.
The Hawks doubled their lead in their next at-bat, scoring on a passed ball after loading the bases with one out. Emily Crannell, Pattie Turner and LeClair all had singles in the inning to fill the bases. Bentley reliever Kelsey Smith kept the damage to one run by getting a strikeout and a grounder to leave two runners in scoring position.
The Falcons got one run back in the top of the fourth with three hits off Hennequin. Chelsea Vena started the inning with a double and scored on a Stephanie McQuaid single. With two outs and McQuaid at second, Jill Raia singled to left but left fielder Karoline Leavitt threw McQuaid out by two steps at the plate.
Hennequin worked the first four innings, allowing one run on five hits with one walk and three strikeouts to pick up her fourth win of the season. Brochu surrendered just two hits and a walk in three shutout innings to earn a save.
Smith struck out five and gave up five hits in four shutout innings of relief after Saint Anselm scored two runs in two innings off Bentley starter Kelly Ferris, who fell to 8-9.
Seniors Crannell, LeClair and Criscione each had a pair of hits for Saint Anselm. McQuaid was 3-for-3 to account for three of Bentley's seven hits.
Saint Anselm 8, Bentley 0 (6 inn.) | Box
Turner hit a walk-off two-run home run for the last of Saint Anselm's 13 hits in game two as the Hawks scored in each of their final five at-bats to take game two 8-0 in six innings.
After two scoreless innings, the Hawks broke the deadlock on a RBI single by Megan Murrell with two outs in the bottom of the third. In the fourth, Criscione singled after LeClair led off the frame with a triple to double the Saint Anselm lead to 2-0.
The Hawks started to pull away in the fifth, scoring twice on four hits. Crannell started the inning with a single, moved to third on a Turner double and scored on single by LeClair. After a strikeout and a wild pitch left runners at second and third and two outs, Shannon McLaughlin singled to shortstop to plate Turner to make it 4-0.
The Hawks ended game two an inning early by scoring our runs in the bottom of the sixth. The first run scored after a throwing error following an Amanda Bickford single. Two batters later, Murrell singled in Bickford from third and Turner followed with her team-best seventh home run of the season.
Six Hawks had two-hit games, including the team's top-five hitters. Turner led the way by going 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI, while Murrell was 2-for-4 with a run and two RBI.
Brochu threw 5.2 scoreless innings, scattering six hits to improve to 7-10 this season. Bentley's best scoring chance came in the first with the bases loaded and one out but Brochu escaped with a strikeout and a comebacker to the mound. Hennequin got the final out of the game after relieving the freshman with two runners on in the sixth.
Saint Anselm touched up Bentley reliever Michelle DeVito for six runs on seven hits in 2.1 innings. Smith started the game and took the loss after surrendering two runs on six hits in three innings of work.
The Hawks play a single game at Saint Michael's on Sunday, April 17 at 2 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for April 5 but was postponed due to weather.
