MANCHESTER, N.H. – The nationally-ranked Saint Anselm College softball team eased its way to a doubleheader sweep of Stonehill College on Friday, winning each game in five innings via run rule.

Claiming wins of 8-0 and 13-0, the Hawks have posted four consecutive shutouts and improve to 22-4 overall on the season and to 19-3 against Northeast-10 Conference opponents. Stonehill falls to 5-21 overall and to 4-18 against league foes.

Ranked No. 19 in NCAA Division II by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, Saint Anselm had a "walk-off" base hit in game one as the winning runs crossed the plate in the home half of the fifth. In game two, the Hawks leveraged a 13-run inning, the most runs in a frame for Saint Anselm since at least 1995, to secure the doubleheader sweep.

In her 13th game of the 2021 season, senior Morgan Perry (Bethany, Conn.) won her 13th game of the year by firing a one-hitter, striking out five batters. In her last four games, she has struck out 39 batters in 20 innings, conceding just two hits and zero earned runs.

Perry wins the 80th game of her Hawks career, improving to 80-21 across 112 appearances since the 2017 season. Her 34 career shutouts ranks first in team history, as do her total innings pitched (647), games started (104), strikeouts (709) and opponent batting average (.210).

The second game featured five shutout innings by the tandem of McKenna Smith (Old Town, Maine) and freshman Haile Hicks (Jefferson, N.H.), who made her collegiate debut in the circle for Saint Anselm. The duo conceded just four hits, striking out nine batters on the way to victory.

Offensively on the day, Saint Anselm was 26-for-52 (.500), posting nine extra-base hits that included three home runs. The team struck out only four times and was a perfect four-for-four on stolen base attempts.

GAME ONE – No. 19 Saint Anselm 8, Stonehill 0 - 5 inn. (Box Score)

After two-and-a-half frames of scoreless softball, the Hawks put two runs on the board in the home half of the third. A lead-off walk by senior Erin Thompson (Newton, N.H.) set the stage for classmate Bre Klaiber (Ironton, Ohio) to stroke an RBI triple to right-center field for the game's first run. Klaiber later scored on a single down the left field line by senior Lauren Washburn (Carmichael, Calif.).

Saint Anselm scored one run on three hits in the fourth inning, using two consecutive hits by freshman Gracie O'Hara (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and senior Abbie Murrell (Scarborough, Maine) to lead off the stanza. With runners in scoring position, Thompson collected an RBI single with one out to up the Hawks lead to 3-0.

After another quick inning for Perry in the circle, Saint Anselm scored five runs in the top of the fifth to end the game via run rule, 8-0. Klaiber led off the inning with a single and the Hawks later strung together back-to-back hits by senior Shannon Colson (Rochester, N.H.) and O'Hara, the latter scoring both Klaiber and Colson.

Additional RBI hits came from junior Bailey Cain (Wellington, Fla.) and sophomore Kylie Fitzpatrick (Danville, N.H.). Fitzpatrick's big hit ended the game as her double to left field scored both Cain and Murrell, who walked during the big offensive outburst by her team.

Stonehill's lone hit came off the bat of Genna Hartman, whose hard-hit ball up the middle was knocked down by Perry. She later drew a walk as just one of two runners on base for the visitors.

Kelly Mayette drew the loss for Stonehill, giving up four earned runs in four-and-a-third innings. Jadyn Lee came on in relief, conceding two runs in just a third of an inning.

GAME TWO – No. 19 Saint Anselm 13, Stonehill 0 - 5 inn. (Box Score)

A 13-run inning would be all Saint Anselm would need in game two as a strong pitching performance by the Hawks shut down the Skyhawks bats.

Washburn led off the second inning with a home run to left field, breaking the 0-0 deadlock. The line kept on moving from there as 13 hits were pounded out by Saint Anselm, the biggest home run of the frame coming off the bat of Beanie Luttig (Kennard, Neb.). The senior drove a three-run home run to right field, putting up three more runs to up the hosts lead to 13-0.

Luttig finished the game with three hits in as many at-bats, driving in four runs. Colson and Washburn each went 2-for-2 with three runs batted in and Klaiber joined O'Hara and Murrell with one RBI apiece. The Hawks were able to use their bench down the stretch, as numerous reserves earned playing time during and after the big inning.

Colson hit her first career home run in the inning, a three-run shot that cleared the center field fence. The dinger was the first in her 186-game career on the Hilltop.

Smith earned the victory for the Hawks, striking out seven batters and giving up just three hits. Hicks made her collegiate debut for Saint Anselm, striking out two batters while allowing just three baserunners in the game's final two innings.

Three pitchers combined to allow 13 runs for Stonehill and none finished with fewer than four earned runs allowed. Four Skyhawks had base hits in the game and Alexa Adinolfi had a double, her team's only extra-base hit of the afternoon.