NEW CASTLE, Del. – The No. 5 seeded Saint Anselm College softball team saw their 2024 season come to an end after being defeated by No. 8 seed Saint Thomas Aquinas College, 2-1, during the second day of the NCAA Division II Softball East Region Championship on Saturday. The Hawks concluded the 2024 campaign with a 25-24 overall record and finished 13-9 in conference play.
Score: No. 5 Saint Anselm 1, No. 8 Saint Thomas Aquinas 2
W: Clancy (21-11)
L: Hicks (22-7)
Records: Saint Anselm 25-24; Saint Thomas Aquinas 34-23
Location: New Castle, Del. (Asbury Field)
Date: Saturday, May 11, 2024
Attendance: 166
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Saint Thomas Aquinas posted the first hit of the game on a double by Eliana Raposo before Tara Hagan flew out to end the top of the first.
- Senior starting pitcher Haile Hicks (Jefferson, N.H.) struck out three batters over the next two innings for Saint Anselm to help keep the game scoreless heading to the third.
- After freshman Katie Tournas (Fairfield, Conn.) walked to start the bottom of the third, senior Hannah Ramer (Rehoboth, Mass.) singled off a bunt to advance Tournas and put two Hawks on base. The Spartans managed to retire the side and keep the contest in a scoreless deadlock.
- Following a quiet fourth inning, Aliya Feerick put Saint Thomas Aquinas on the scoreboard with a two-run home run to left field in tbe top of the fifth. Saint Anselm's defense came up big in the top of the sixth with a double play to keep it a two-run game.
- In the bottom of the sixth, sophomore Rose Reitmeyer (Oxford, Conn.) reached first base on a fielding error followed by a single from freshman Jamie Calkins (Charlton, Mass.). Senior Gracie O'Hara (Shrewsbury, Mass.) then ripped a single to left to load the bases for Saint Anselm.
- The very next batter, junior Sam Wiberg (Exeter, N.H.), flew out to deep center field. That allowed freshman Madeline Trisket (Binghamton, N.Y.), who checked in as a pinch runner for the Hawks, to tag home and cut the Spartans lead in half, making it 2-1.
- Saint Anselm held their opponents to one hit in the top of the seventh along with Hicks picking up her seventh strikeout of the day.
- In the bottom of the seventh, junior Stephanie Tardugno (Meuthen, Mass.) entered the game as a pinch hitter and singled to center field. Saint Thomas Aquinas was able to get the final three outs and ultimately hold on for the 2-1 win over Saint Anselm.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Saint Thomas Aquinas posted two runs off six hits, while Saint Anselm recorded one run from four hits. Both teams produced one error in the game.
- The Spartans recorded the only two extra-base hits of the day featuring a double and home run to go along with one stolen base.
- Wiberg drove in the lone run for the Hawks with her sacrifice fly that scored Trisket. Four Hawks posted one hit in the contest including Calkins, O'Hara, Ramer, and Tardugno.
- Hicks closed out her senior season with an impressive 22-7 record in the circle. She threw the entire seven innings for Saint Anselm, allowing two earned runs on six hits and striking out seven batters on 99 pitches.
- This marked the first meeting between these two programs in NCAA postseason play and the eighth tilt in the all-time series with Saint Thomas Aquinas earning their third win over Saint Anselm.
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