MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College softball team picked up a convincing 11-0 five-inning victory to open the day before falling in heartbreaking fashion, 3-2, in the finale against Stonehill College on Saturday.
Saint Anselm moves to 19-12 on the season and to 12-4 against Northeast-10 Conference opponents. The Hawks have lost just 10 games in regular-season NE10 play since the middle of the 2018 season and all but two of those defeats have come by exactly one run – those two losses were by exactly two runs.
Stonehill's record at the end of the day is 10-16 with a 6-8 mark versus the league. The team was saddled with a shutout loss in game one and responded with a go-ahead, two-run double in the top of the seventh inning in game two – the clutch hit came with two outs and two strikes on the batter.
Saint Anselm hit .340 as a team, rapping 16 hits in 47 at-bats, while Stonehill mustered just five hits on the day and secured the split. Sophomore Gracie O'Hara (Shrewsbury, Mass.) produced four hits in seven at-bats to lead the way for Saint Anselm.
Saint Anselm heads to Rindge, N.H. on Wednesday for a doubleheader with Franklin Pierce starting at 3 p.m. The Ravens have two games in hand over the Hawks and are presently third in the NE10 standings with a 10-4 record versus the league.
GAME ONE – Saint Anselm 11, Stonehill 0 (5 inn.)
Saint Anselm built a three-run lead in the first inning with a single down the left field line by junior Kylie Fitzpatrick (Danville, N.H.) that drove in senior Bailey Cain (Wellington, Fla.), who reached on a two-out walk. Junior Kylee Royer (Blackshear, Ga.) kept up her hot hitting of late, driving home two runs with a booming double to left field.
On the first pitch of the bottom of the second inning, freshman Audrey Arsenault (Stow, Mass.) lined her first collegiate home run over the center field fence to set the stage for a huge eight-run inning for the hosts.
With one out, the Hawks saw six consecutive batters reached. Back-to-back singles by freshman Ava Caputo (Waterford, N.Y.) and O'Hara preceded an eight-pitch walk by Cain to load the bases. Senior Bre Klaiber (Ironton, Ohio) drew a bases-loaded walk before a towering grand slam by Fitzpatrick upped the lead to 9-0.
After the second out of the inning, Arsenault came to bat for the second time and walked. After swiping second and placing runners on second and third, a single by junior Kate Irwin (Milford, Mass.) up the middle scored the 10th and 11th runs of the game. The Hawks finished the frame with six hits to create the final score.
The Hawks left two runners on base in the fourth and fifth innings, threatening to score more, but sophomore Haile Hicks (Jefferson, N.H.) earned the win, her league-leading 15th, by allowing just one hit in the top of the fifth inning with two outs. She ended up striking out the final batter of the game on three pitches, capping the strong game one pitching performance in the circle.
In her last four starts (25 innings pitched), Hicks has not allowed a single run to cross home plate, earned or unearned.
GAME TWO – Stonehill 3, Saint Anselm 2
The Hawks were the beneficiaries of a defensive blunder by the Skyhawks in the home half of the third inning. On a groundout to third base, Irwin scampered to third base and came around to score on an errant throw by the Stonehill first baseman.
On a play at the plate in the top of the fourth, Stonehill tied the game as a ball hit to third allowed the runner at third base to score on a play at the plate. The runner was on base due to a dropped fly ball by the Hawks in the outfield to begin the stanza.
Freshman Sophia DiPippo (Cranston, R.I.) came out of the game in the top of the fifth inning as Hicks came on in relief with the score tied. Able to quickly retire three of the first four batters, the Hawks scraped across the go-ahead run in the bottom of the frame on a two-out RBI single by Cain that scored O'Hara after her double.
Hicks quickly retired the Skyhawks in the top of the seventh inning before a solid single through the left side placed a runner on. The next batter reached on a ground ball to shortstop that found its way int ot the outfield.
With the count at 2-2 with two outs in the top of the seventh, the Skyhawks picked up a clutch two-run double to right-center field that cleared the bases and forced Saint Anselm to bat in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Irwin began the bottom of the seventh with an infield hit to third base. After a successful sacrifice by Caputo, O'Hara struck what was the hardest-hit ball of the day by either team – the sharp liner was reeled in on the fly by the Skyhawks first baseman for the second out of the inning.
Trying to set up a force play at each base, Cain was walked as Stonehill elected to face Klaiber with runners on the corners. After the Hawks senior was hit by the pitch to load the bases, Fitzpatrick was retired for the third out of the inning on a long fly ball to right field that settled into the outfielder's glove.
Hicks took the loss, despite striking out five batters in three innings of relief. DiPippo allowed only the unearned run in four innings, giving up just one hit on the day.
