MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College softball team had the game-tying run in scoring position in each of the last two innings but Southern New Hampshire's Sarah Lavallee escaped both threats as the Penmen edged the Hawks 2-1 on Tuesday afternoon at South Athletic Fields.
Box Score
With Southern New Hampshire (22-11, 14-5 NE-10) ahead by a run, Saint Anselm (12-23, 8-14 NE-10) had a runner on third with nobody out in the bottom of the sixth and runners on the corners with one away in the seventh, but Lavallee wriggled out of trouble on both occasions. The win gave the Penmen their third one-run win over the Hawks this season.
Trailing 2-0, the Hawks got on the board in the bottom of the sixth when Julie LeClair lined a triple down the right-field line to score Pattie Turner, who had walked to start the inning. Lavallee left LeClair at third with a comebacker to the mound, a strikeout and a grounder to third.
Needing a run in their final at-bats, Jordan O'Connor led off the bottom of the seventh with a single and moved to second on a bunt by Amanda Bickford. After a throwing error left runners at the corners with one out, Lavallee got a pair of ground balls to escape the jam.
Lavallee moved to 13-4 this season by scattering eight hits over seven innings of work, allowing one run with one walk and four strikeouts. Arika Brochu took the loss by giving up two runs on eight hits in seven innings. The freshman did not walk a batter and fanned one.
Southern New Hampshire wasted little time getting out to an early 1-0 lead. After Mo Hannan led off the game with a single, Erin Garczynski doubled two batters later to give the Penmen an early lead.
Lavallee and Brochu matched each other inning-by-inning after the first until the Penmen added an insurance fun in the fifth on a RBI double by Lindsey Bolduc. Hannah, Bolduc and Garczynski were each 2-for-4 in the game, combining for six of the team's eight hits.
LeClair and O'Connor both had 2-for-3 afternoons at the plate for Saint Anselm, while four others had one hit apiece.
Saint Anselm closes out its regular-season schedule with three games at Assumption this weekend, beginning with a single game on Friday, April 22 at 4 p.m.
