Box Score MANCHESTER, N.H. – No. 24 Southern New Hampshire University clinched a share of its third consecutive Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division regular season softball championship on Thursday with a 5-2 victory over Saint Anselm College at Penmen Field. The Penmen, who won their fifth straight and 10th in 11 games, improved to 26-6 and 15-3 in the NE-10, while the Hawks now stand 20-9 and 11-7 in league play. SNHU is ranked second in the most recent NCAA East Region rankings, while Saint Anselm checks in at No. 5 in the region.
Senior Ali Maloof (Norwood, Mass.) improved to 17-1 with a complete-game, 13-strikeout performance. Maloof carried a no-hit bid into the fifth, and recorded the first nine outs of the game on strikes. Offensively she finished 3-for-4 to lead the Penmen, and extended her hitting streak to 18 games.
After Maloof struck out the side in the first two innings, Southern New Hampshire jumped on the board first with a run in the bottom of the second. Freshman Sarah Lavallee (Candia, N.H.) and senior Holly Eicher (Stoneham, Mass.) led off the frame with back-to-back singles before sophomore Erin Morrissey (Commack, N.Y.) sacrificed both runners into scoring position. Classmate Jessica Torsiello (Morris Plains, N.J.) followed with a single through the left side of the infield that plated Lavallee and gave the hosts a 1-0 advantage.
Maloof picked up three more strikeouts in the next half inning, and the Penmen doubled their lead in the third. Junior Lindsey Bolduc (Londonderry, N.H.) ripped a base hit into left before Lavallee reached on a Saint Anselm miscue. After each runner moved up on a wild pitch, Eicher lifted a sacrifice fly into right that plated Bolduc and made it 2-0.
Southern New Hampshire tacked on two more runs in the fourth to increase its edge to four. Freshman Brittany Perdigao (Stoughton, Mass.) started the rally on an infield hit with one away, and she moved up to third on a single to right by junior Mo Hannan (Scarborough, Maine). Maloof tagged a run scoring base hit back up the middle that put the Penmen in front, 3-0, and Bolduc's second single in as many innings brought in Hannan with the game's fourth run.
Both teams went scoreless in the fifth before Saint Anselm attempted to mount a comeback in the sixth. After Maloof allowed just one hit through the first five innings, Saint Anselm used a pair of two-out RBI base hits from Kasey Moran and Shannon McLaughlin to pull within a pair at 4-2.
Southern New Hampshire responded in its half of the sixth to put the game out of reach. Maloof led off the frame with a single up the middle, and she came around to score on a double by Lavallee to give the Penmen a 5-2 lead. In the seventh, Maloof worked around a one-out single before retiring the final two hitters to secure the division title.
Lavallee turned in her fourth consecutive multi-hit game on Thursday, as she finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Bolduc was also 2-for-4 against the Hawks, while Torsiello and Perdigao each chipped in with two hits in three trips to the plate.
Southern New Hampshire is back in action on Friday when it opens up a three-game set against Bentley University at 3 p.m., before closing out its regular season slate with a doubleheader on Saturday versus the Falcons. Saint Anselm heads to Merrimack College on Friday for a single game at 4 p.m. and battles the Warriors in its final two regular season games on Saturday.
For the latest on Southern New Hampshire University athletics, follow the Penmen via social media on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Instagram. Sign up to receive text message alerts and email newsletters about your favorite Penmen teams here:http://www.snhupenmen.com/list-signup.
