WORCESTER, Mass. – The Saint Anselm College softball team concluded its season by dropping both ends of a Northeast-10 Conference doubleheader to Assumption, as the Greyhounds picked up wins of 12-11 and 5-2 on Saturday afternoon at Marois Field.
Assumption 12, Saint Anselm 11 | Box
Saint Anselm (12-26, 8-17 NE-10) mashed five home runs but Assumption (18-20, 15-10 NE-10) overcame an 11-9 deficit with three runs in the bottom of the seventh to claim a 12-11 walk-off win in game one. The five home runs were the most by the Hawks in a single game in the last 16 seasons.
Julie LeClair had a big game at the plate, going 3-for-5 with a triple, two home runs, three runs and five RBI. Pattie Turner was 3-for-4 with three runs and two RBI and Shannon McLaughlin and Jordan O'Connor each had a home run and drove in two.
Ashley Abad was 4-for-5 with two runs, Caitlin Mirabell was 3-for-5 with two runs and one RBI and Ashley Clark was 3-for-4 with three runs for Assumption. Stephanie Menard homered as part of a 2-for-4, two-run, three-RBI game, while Kayli Moniz added a three-run home run.
The Hawks took an 11-6 lead in the top of the sixth on a three-run home run by LeClair, her second of the game. The Greyhounds replied on Menard's three-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the sixth to get within a pair at 11-9.
After Saint Anselm was retired in order in the top of the seventh, Assumption scored three times in the bottom of the frame to snatch the win. The Greyhounds started the rally with a single, a hit batter and another single but the Hawks got an out on the bases to leave runners at first and second with one out.
Mirabell, the next batter, singled to load the bases with one out before Arika Brochu got the second out via a strikeout. After Assumption got their first run of the inning on a passed ball, Moniz reached on an error, allowing two runs to score to end the game.
Turner and McLaughlin each hit two-run home runs in the first to put the Hawks up 4-0, but the Greyhounds erased the deficit with four runs in the bottom of the inning. Three of the four runs came on Moniz's home run.
O'Connor's first collegiate home run, a solo shot to left in the second, put Saint Anselm back on top only for Assumption to score a pair in the home half of the inning. LeClair's first home run of the day was a two-run shot in the top of the third to give the Hawks a 7-6 lead. Saint Anselm added a run in the fifth on a RBI single by O'Connor.
Brochu suffered the loss by allowing three runs in one inning after Sam Hennequin worked the first 5.2 innings. Courtney Oliva earned her first win of the season with two innings of one-run ball as the third pitcher to work in the game for Assumption.
Assumption 5, Saint Anselm 2 | Box
Assumption's Kendal Roy held Saint Anselm scoreless for the first five innings and went the distance in game two to help the Greyhounds take the nightcap 5-2. Roy scattered 11 hits in the complete game, while striking out three and walking none.
LeClair was 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI for Saint Anselm, while Amanda Bickford and Pattie Turner were each 2-for-4. Emily Crannell was 1-for-3 with an RBI.
The first three batters of the game reached for the Greyhounds with Abad tripling in Clark and Mirabell to give the hosts an early 2-0 lead. The score remained 2-0 until Assumption plated three runs in the fifth. Two of the three runs came on a triple by Moniz, which Menard followed with a run-scoring single.
Trailing 5-0, Saint Anselm mounted a rally in the sixth, scoring twice on four hits. Turner and LeClair started the inning with back-to-back doubles and Crannell drove in LeClair with a ground out. Emily Barrett and O'Connor also had singles in the inning but were stranded on the bases.
Saint Anselm got the tying run to the plate in the seventh after Turner and LeClair both singled, but Roy closed out the game to move to 14-6 on the season. Brochu pitched all six innings for the Hawks to record her 12th complete game in 23 starts this season.
The twinbill marked the end of the careers of LeClair, Crannell, Michaela Criscione and Turner. The quartet helped the Hawks post a combined record of 84-75 over their four-year careers.
