MANCHESTER, N.H. – The nationally-ranked Saint Anselm College softball team completed the season sweep over Assumption University on Tuesday afternoon.
Saint Anselm won both games by scores of 4-2 and 7-1 and owns a four-game winning streak. The 16th-ranked team in Division II by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) improves to 14-2 on the season and to 11-1 against Northeast-10 Conference opponents. The Greyhounds fall to 8-6 on the season.
In game one, the Hawks took control early with a 3-0 edge, led by a two-run single by senior
Lauren Washburn (Carmichael, Calif.). Senior pitcher
Morgan Perry (Bethany, Conn.) locked down with the victory with 11 strikeouts, improving 8-0 record on the season.
Saint Anselm scored seven runs to begin game two, easing its way to victory over the Greyhounds. The offense did its part with seven Hawks student-athletes, contributing with one or more hits. Senior
Kat Stackrow (Wynantskill, N.Y.) led the squad with a career-high three hits.
GAME ONE: No. 16 Saint Anselm 4, Assumption 2 (Box Score)
The Hawks used three hits and three runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 3-0 lead over the Greyhounds.
With one out on the board in the first, sophomore
Kylie Fitzpatrick (Danville, N.H.) doubled down the left field line to get the ball rolling for the Hawks. Freshman
Gracie O'Hara (Shrewsbury, Mass.) put Fitzpatrick on third with a single through the left side and got into scoring position when she stole second.
Junior
Bre Klaiber (Ironton, Ohio) walked to load the bases before Washburn singled to left-center field, scoring Fitzpatrick and O'Hara. Senior
Erin Thompson (Newton, N.H.) reached on a fielder's choice to help Klaiber cross home plate, securing the Hawks a 3-0 edge.
After three and a half scoreless innings, Saint Anselm added their fourth and final run on a home run over the center field wall by O'Hara.
In the sixth winning,
Alyssa Beaton of the Greyhounds put a two-run home run over the left-center field fence. That helped the Greyhounds inch closer to the Hawks with a 4-2 deficit but the Hawks closed out the top of the seventh to earn the win in game one.
Perry's counterpart,
Samantha Hardwick, fanned three batters and gave up seven hits over six innings.
O'Hara led the Hawks charge with three hits, two runs scored, and one run batted in. Klaiber and Washburn each drew the lone walks in the game.
GAME TWO: No. 16 Saint Anselm 7, Assumption 1 (Box Score)
The Hawks scored early in game two, putting up three hits and two runs in the first inning. Senior
Shannon Colson (Rochester, N.H.) led off with a walk and moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt by Fitzpatrick. Colson then crossed home when O'Hara continued her hitting streak with a double down the right field line. Later, O'Hara advanced to third on a single by Klaiber and scored the final run of the inning off a single up the middle by Stackrow.
Saint Anselm kept the offensive show going in the third inning, adding three more runs off three hits. Washburn led off the hitting affair with a two-run home run, making it 4-0 before senior
Abbie Murrell (Scarborough, Maine) found the left-center gap and scored Thompson.
The Hawks kept their bats going in the fourth as the Greyhounds recorded a pair of errors, allowing O'Hara and Kitzpatrick to cross home plate off a Klaiber single to left-center field.
The Greyhounds attempted to make a comeback in the sixth, scoring their one run off a
Corin Mahan double. Senior
Courtney Fisher (Taunton, Mass.) induced a ground ball to second to escape further trouble.
Fisher earned her third win of the season, allowing four hits and striking out one batter over seven innings. Three Assumption student-athletes combined for six innings of work, giving up 11 hits and seven runs.
