NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The Saint Anselm College softball team split its doubleheader with Molloy University on Saturday, claiming a game one victory by a 5-2 score before falling in game two by a 9-6 margin.
The Hawks move to 3-1 in the early going of the 2023 season while the Lions go to 2-2. Saint Anselm will conclude its South Carolina trip on Sunday, Feb. 19 with a doubleheader against Mercy (N.Y.) College. The first pitch in Sunday's twinbill is slated for 9:30 p.m.
Sophomore
Ava Caputo (Waterford, N.Y.) led the Hawks with five hits in the doubleheader and matched a team-high three runs batted in. Classmate
Alyssa Wironen (Leominster, Mass.) joined Caputo with three RBIs on the day. Sophomore
Stephanie Tardugno (Methuen, Mass.) collected two doubles in a four-hit day.
Junior
Haile Hicks (Jefferson, N.H.) collected the game one win, improving to 2-0 on the season after allowing just two runs on six hits in the complete game effort. Sophomore
Sophia DiPippo (Cranston, R.I.) suffered the loss in game two, dropping her to 1-1 on the season.
GAME ONE: Saint Anselm 5, Molloy 2
The Hawks pushed across the first run of the contest in the bottom of the second inning. Tardugno doubled to open the inning before junior
Hannah Ramer (Rehoboth, Mass.) laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Tardugno to third. However, a throwing error allowed Tardugno to score and Ramer to reach safely. Consecutive sacrifice bunts moved Ramer to third where a single by Caputo would score a second run, giving the Hawks a 2-0 lead through two innings.
Senior
Kylie Fitzpatrick (Danville, N.H.) led off the third inning with a single and would come around to score on a double by Wironen. Wironen then scored on a double by sophomore
Sam Wiberg (Exeter, N.H.), extending the Saint Anselm advantage to 4-0 through three innings.
With runners on second and third and one out in the top of the fifth inning, Hicks would work out of the jam with a strikeout and pop out. Wironen opened the Hawks half of the fifth with a solo home run, the first of her collegiate career.
Molloy would plate one run each in its half of the sixth and seventh innings to make the score its eventual final of 5-2.
GAME TWO: Molloy 9, Saint Anselm 6
After getting a pair of strike outs to open the bottom of the first inning, a Hawks fielding error and a hit by pitch continued the inning for the Lions, who would capitalize on the chance.
Natalie Moussa doubled to left center to score both runs, giving Molloy a 2-0 edge.
Saint Anselm plated three runs in the top of the third inning to take a 3-2 lead. Senior
Kate Irwin (Milford, Mass.) reached on an error to open the frame before a Caputo single and a walk by Fitzpatrick loaded the bases. Junior
Gracie O'Hara (Shrewsbury, Mass.) brought home a run with a sacrifice fly which was followed by a RBI groundout from Wironen. Tardugno doubled to score Fitzpatrick to cap the scoring in the inning.
Molloy would strike for five in its half of the fourth inning on five hits and three Hawks errors. After getting a groundout with runners on first and second, the Lions would take advantage of consecutive error by the Hawks defense. That allowed three of the next four batters to record hits, two of which drove in one run each.
The Lions added two in the bottom of the fifth as one run came across on a wild pitch and another on a groundout.
Saint Anselm posted three runs in the top of the sixth as a hit by pitch and a walk brought Caputo to the plate, who doubled to left center making the score 9-5. Caputo later scored on a throwing error to push the score to 9-6.
The Hawks would go three up, three down in the top of the seventh, dropping game two by a 9-6 score.
