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Box Score 2 MANCHESTER, N.H. – Senior Ali Maloof (Norwood, Mass.) fired her sixth career no-hitter, and No. 24 Southern New Hampshire University posted a pair of five-inning victories over Saint Michael's College in Northeast-10 Conference softball action on Wednesday. The Penmen took game one by a final score of 15-1 before securing the sweep with an 11-0 triumph in game two. Southern New Hampshire improves to 21-5 overall and 10-2 in conference action, while the Purple Knights fall to 0-16 and 0-6 in the league.
Maloof fanned nine and faced just one batter over the minimum in game two. She improved to 13-0 this season with her 13th complete game of the year. At the plate, Maloof rapped out a pair of doubles, scored four runs and drove in two.
After Maloof opened the game with a pair of strikeouts in the top of the first, the Penmen provided her with all the offense she would need in the bottom half of the inning. Junior Mo Hannan (Scarborough, Maine) led off with a solo shot before Maloof followed with a double. Junior Katie Caruso (Newton, Mass.) stepped in next and lined a two-run homer to left centerfield to make it 3-0 through one.
Maloof recorded two more punch-outs in the top of the second before the hosts were able to tack on seven runs in the home half of the frame. After freshman Sarah Lavallee (Candia, N.H.) launched a one-out long ball to give the Penmen a 4-0 edge, senior Holly Eicher (Stoneham, Mass.) singled and moved up to second when Hannan was hit by a pitch. Maloof walked to load the bases for Caruso, and she became the fifth consecutive batter to reach base when she was hit to force in the game's fifth run. Hannan crossed the plate on a wild pitch to push the Southern New Hampshire advantage to six before junior Lindsey Bolduc (Londonderry, N.H.) clubbed a two-run double to make it 8-0. After sophomore Jessica Torsiello (Morris Plains, N.J.) was plunked and the runners advanced on a wild pitch, sophomore Erin Morrissey (Commack, N.Y.) plated Bolduc with an RBI groundout. Freshman Brittany Perdigao (Stoughton, Mass.) put the Penmen into double-digits when she punched a base hit into center that brought in Torsiello.
Maloof prevented Saint Michael's from putting the ball in play during the third and fourth, as she struck out the next four hitters she faced and retired the final two batters of the fourth on foul outs. In the bottom of the fourth, Southern New Hampshire capped the game's scoring when Perdigao and freshman Katie Horiuchi (Livingston, N.J.) smacked back-to-back doubles to make it 11-0.
In the fifth, Maloof opened the inning with her ninth strikeout before hitting the ensuing batter. She then induced a groundout to second and a pop out to second to preserve the no-hitter and the victory.
In the opener, the Penmen broke open a scoreless game with a 10-run third inning en route to a 15-1 win. Hannan started the inning with a single before Maloof doubled to put runners on second and third with nobody out. Caruso drove in Hannan with the game's first run on an RBI single, and Bolduc followed by delivering a three-run home run to left center to put Southern New Hampshire in front, 4-0. Torsiello restarted the offense with a double, and she came around to score on a base hit by Perdigao. Senior Rebecca Sherwood (Braintree, Mass.) and Eicher both singled to load the bases, and Hannan worked a walk to force in the sixth run of the inning. After an RBI fielder's choice by Maloof, Caruso connected on her third homer of the year, a three-run shot, to make it 10-0.
After the Purple Knights were able to scratch across an unearned run in the top of the fourth, the Penmen tacked on the game's final five runs in the bottom of the inning. Morrissey and Perdigao reached on one-out singles before Sherwood loaded the bases on a walk. Eicher tagged a two-run double to right center to score Morrissey and Perdigao, and Hannan reached on an error that allowed Sherwood to score. Two batters later, Caruso walked to load the bases for Bolduc, and she provided an RBI single through the left side that brought in Eicher to put Southern New Hampshire in front, 14-1. Sophomore Erin McHugh (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) stepped in next and was hit by a pitch to force in the game's final run.
Sophomore Nicole Gubellini (Salem, N.H.) started in the circle for the Penmen and allowed just one hit while striking out four in three innings of work. In the first appearance of her career, freshman Stephanie Martin (Milford, Mass.) closed out the game with two strikeouts in two innings of action.
The Southern New Hampshire offense combined for 26 runs on 25 hits during the twinbill. Caruso led the way for the Penmen, as she was 3-for-4 in the doubleheader with two home runs, seven RBI and four runs scored. Bolduc was 3-for-6 on the afternoon with a homer, a double and six runs batted in, and Perdigao chipped in with a 4-for-6 showing that included two RBI and three runs scored.
Southern New Hampshire is scheduled to resume play on Friday when it will play host to Stonehill College at 4 p.m. Saint Michael's returns to the diamond on Thursday when it takes on Saint Anselm College on the Hilltop in a doubleheader slated to begin at 3 p.m.
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