MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College softball team conceded just one hit across a two-game Northeast-10 Conference doubleheader with American International College on Senior Day.
Believed to be the program record for hits allowed in a doubleheader (one), the Hawks improve to 22-13 overall on the season, moving to 15-5 against NE10 opponents. American International ends the day with a 3-31 overall record and a 1-17 mark versus the league.
Sophomore Haile Hicks (Jefferson, N.H.) yielded only a solo home run for Saint Anselm in game one, ending the day with 11 strikeouts and zero walks. She is tied with Adelphi's Claire Fon for the league lead in pitching victories this season with 17, taking only three losses for Saint Anselm in the circle.
Freshman Sophia DiPippo (Cranston, R.I.) pitched a five-inning no-hitter for the Hawks, keeping her team in the game despite issuing five walks. With the game two result, DiPippo and Hicks (Mar. 17 vs. Minn-Crookston) have now thrown no-hitters in the same season, the first time in team history that has occurred.
Senior Bailey Cain (Wellington, Fla.) was two-for-two on the day, drawing four walks while driving in four runs on the day. She now has walked 25 times this season, shattering her previous single-season record of nine free passes, and is just three away from setting the team record for walks in a campaign (Madison Borrelli '20 – 27, 2018).
Junior Kate Irwin (Milford, Mass.) continued her hot streak of hitting, picking up four more singles in seven at-bats while stealing three bases. She now has 13 thefts on 13 attempts, the most in a single season for any Hawks student-athlete without being caught.
Freshman Ava Caputo (Waterford, N.Y.) cleared the bases in game one with a pinch-hit three-run double before adding another run batted in to conclude the day. Her 31 hits to date are the most by a freshman since O'Hara produced exactly 31 hits in her first season in 2021.
Saint Anselm concludes its regular-season home schedule on Sunday, Apr. 24, hosting Assumption in an NE10 doubleheader that begins at 12 p.m.
GAME ONE – Saint Anselm 8, American International 1
The lone hit of the day for American International came just three batters into the top of the first inning. Kodi Gora lined a deep home run to center field on the first pitch that she saw, scoring her team's first and only run of the ballgame.
The Hawks immediately responded as Irwin laid down a successful bunt attempt for a base hit. Stealing second, she advanced to third on a successful sacrifice attempt by junior Kylie Fitzpatrick (Danville, N.H.). Cain followed with a line-drive sacrifice fly, scoring the speedy Irwin from third base with ease.
Hicks kept Saint Anselm in the game with solid pitching, striking out five consecutive batters at one point between the second and third innings.
On a full count in the bottom of the fourth inning, Cain lined a home run to left center field to break the 1-1 tie with her second home run of the season. She ended the day with 91 career hits at Saint Anselm across 128 career games on the Hilltop.
The Hawks exploded for six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning as freshman Julia Howse (North Reading, Mass.) began the proceedings with a single on the first pitch of the inning. Junior Jess Persechino (Torrington, Conn.) reached next on a walk before Irwin hit a single up the middle to drive in Howse, upping the lead to 3-1.
Back-to-back walks by Fitzpatrick and Cain produced the fourth run prior to sophomore Gracie O'Hara (Shrewsbury, Mass.) singling to left-center field to create a 5-1 lead, driving home Irwin. With two outs later in the inning, a pinch-hit double by Caputo cleared the bases, creating the 8-1 final score.
O'Hara finished the game with two hits, matching a career-high with an eight-game hitting streak. She has picked up 15 hits in that span, batting .536 since Apr. 12 against Saint Michael's.
GAME TWO – Saint Anselm 9, American International 1 (5 inn.)
After stranding two runners on base in the first inning, Saint Anselm used a three-run, bases-clearing double by Fitzpatrick to up the hosts lead to 3-0. The Hawks threatened to score more runs in the inning, as American International walked back-to-back batters after the big hit, but were retired after nearly batting around.
Three of the first four batters walked for American International in the top of the third inning before a fielder's choice groundout produced a run, trimming the Saint Anselm lead to 3-1.
Junior Kylee Royer (Blackshear, Ga.) reached successfully on a dropped pop-up by AIC to lead off the bottom of the third, later coming around to score on an RBI single up the middle by freshman Stephanie Tardugno (Methuen, Mass.) with two outs, nudging the Hawks ahead by a 4-1 score.
After a Fitzpatrick lead-off walk on four pitches to begin the bottom of the fourth, the Hawks tacked on their fifth run of the stanza thanks to an RBI single up the middle by Royer that came on a full count. Saint Anselm stranded three more runners on base but led by a 5-1 margin.
The Hawks walked off with the run-rule victory in the bottom of the fifth, using an RBI single from Cain, a sacrifice fly by senior Bre Klaiber (Ironton, Ohio), a sacrifice fly from Caputo and a double by Royer to end the game with an eight-run margin of victory.
