GAME 1 BOX SCORE | GAME 2 BOX SCORE
When and Where: April 9, 2016 – Manchester, N.H. (SNHU Softball Field)
Scores: Game One: Assumption College 6, No. 25 Southern New Hampshire University 4 | Game Two: No. 25 Southern New Hampshire University 14, Assumption College 7
Records: SNHU 16-7 (8-3 Northeast-10), Assumption 9-19 (6-9 Northeast-10)
Senior Lindsey Bolduc (Londonderry, N.H.) went 6-for-9 with a home run, five RBI and three runs scored to help No. 25 Southern New Hampshire split a Northeast-10 Conference softball doubleheader with Assumption College at the SNHU Softball Field on Saturday. The Greyhounds, who were the home team in both contests due to a site change to makeup Thursday's postponement in Worcester, Massachusetts, took game one by a score of 6-4 before the Penmen won the finale, 14-7.
Freshman Erin Garczynski (Norwood, Mass.) finished 5-for-8 in the twinbill with a home run, a pair of runs scored and two RBI. Senior Mo Hannan (Scarborough, Maine) was 5-for-9 and scored twice, while sophomore Brittany Perdigao (Stoughton, Mass.) turned in a 4-for-9 day that featured three runs scored and an RBI.
Sophomore Stephanie Martin (Milford, Mass.) worked 4.2 innings in the circle for Southern New Hampshire and surrendered one earned run while scattering four hits and striking out one. After tossing 1.2 innings of relief in game one, Martin threw the final three innings of game two, and picked up her second win of the season in the process.
Saturday's second game was a back-and-forth affair that saw four lead changes and two ties, as well as a combined 30 hits and 21 runs.
Assumption grabbed the lead first in game two with a three-run first inning. Kayli Moniz plated the first run of the contest on a sacrifice fly to center before Ashley Abad crossed the plate on a wild pitch to make it 2-0. After Stephanie Menard walked and Nicole Duplease singled, Christina Caira doubled to right field to drive in Menard with the third run of the frame.
The Penmen answered in the top of the third with a two-out rally to even the score at three apiece. After the inning started with back-to-back groundouts, Garczynski launched a solo shot to left. Senior Katie Caruso (Newton, Mass.) followed with a double down the right field line before a Greyhounds' miscue on a groundball by Perdigao allowed Caruso to come around to score, and put Perdigao on third. The error would prove even more costly, as Perdigao tied the contest when she scampered home on a wild pitch to knot the score at 3-3.
In the bottom of the frame, Assumption regained the lead when Caira shot a two-out single through the left side of the infield that brought in Marissa Gifford.
The seesaw battle continued in the fourth, as Southern New Hampshire took its first lead of the ballgame with a two-run spurt before the Greyhounds used one of their own to regain the advantage. Hannan, Bolduc and Garczynski delivered consecutive one-out singles to load the bases for Caruso, and she drove in a pair with a base hit to left to make it 5-4. Assumption responded in its next trip to the plate when a two RBI single off the bat of Kayli Moniz pushed across Ashley Clark and Caitlin Mirabell with the tying and go-ahead runs.
After the Penmen reestablished a one-run edge in their half of the fifth, the Greyhounds again struck back in home half of the stanza to tie the score. Sophomore Sarah Lavallee (Candia, N.H.) reached on a one-out base knock before a single by Hannan and an attempt to throw out sophomore pinch runner Kailey March (East Taunton, Mass.) at third base put a pair of runners in scoring position for Bolduc. She converted on the opportunity by lining a two-run base hit to center. Not to be outdone, Assumption used a run-scoring single by Cassidy Colby with two away in the bottom of the inning to pull even at 7-7.
Southern New Hampshire put the game away in the sixth by sending 11 batters to the plate and scoring six runs on seven hits. Perdigao led off with an infield single and advanced to third when the base was left unoccupied on junior Erin Morrissey's (Commack, N.Y.) sacrifice bunt. Junior Jessica Torsiello (Morris Plains, N.J.) sent a sacrifice fly to center that brought in Perdigao before Lavallee homered to center to give the Penmen a 9-7 cushion. Sophomore Katie Horiuchi (Livingston, N.J.) stepped in next and smacked a double down the line in left, and after Hannan walked, Bolduc sent a base hit into right to plate Horiuchi. Garczynski connected on a single to right, and an error on the play allowed for both Hannan and Bolduc to scamper in to make it 12-7. Next up was Caruso, and she reached on an infield hit to bring in Garczynski to cap the inning's scoring. Horiuchi provided the final margin of victory in the contest with an RBI double in the top of the seventh.
Neither team was able to break through on the scoreboard in game one until the third inning, when the Penmen staked themselves to a 2-0 lead. Hannan led off with a single through the left side before Bolduc connected on a two-run shot that cleared the wall in left.
Assumption answered with a long ball of its own in the bottom of the third, which started a three-inning scoring run that effectively put the game out of reach. Abad erased to the deficit with one swing when she connected on a three-run shot in the third. Colby extended the Greyhounds' advantage to a pair in the fourth with an RBI double before a two-run tater by Moniz in the fifth ballooned the lead to 6-2.
Perdigao and Torsiello added run-scoring singles in the top of the seventh to cut the disadvantage to 6-4, and SNHU brought the go-ahead run to the plate with two outs, but it would be as close as the Penmen would get.
Junior Nicole Gubellini (Salem, N.H.) started the opener and surrendered six runs on eight hits and struck out four in 4.1 innings. Lavallee took the ball in game two and lasted four innings, allowing six runs on seven hits with four punch outs.
Notes:
- Each of Southern New Hampshire's nine starters recorded at least one hit in the second game, with seven registering multi-hit outings.
- The Penmen combined for 33 hits in the doubleheader, including 20 knocks in game two. The Greyhounds managed 19 hits on the day with nine coming in game one followed by 10 in the finale.
- Bolduc extended her hitting streak to seven consecutive games, while Hannan moved hers to six straight contests.
What's Next:
Southern New Hampshire takes on LIU Post (20-7-1) in its third doubleheader in three days on Sunday. Game one of the nonconference set is scheduled for 11 a.m.
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