West Hartford, Conn. - The Albertus Magnus College softball team split a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) doubleheader against the University of Saint Joseph's (Conn.) on Tuesday afternoon at the USJ Softball Field. The Falcons defeated the Blue Jays, 6-3, in the opener, but fell to the hosts, 8-3, in game two.
FINAL SCORE (G1): Albertus Magnus 6 | Saint Joseph's (Conn.) 3
FINAL SCORE (G2): St. Joseph's (Conn.) 8 | Albertus Magnus 3
RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (21-12, 14-6) | Saint Joseph's (Conn.) (20-12, 12-6)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1:
After four scoreless innings, senior Daysia Wehder (Queens, N.Y.) broke the silence with her second home run of the season to give the visitors the 1-0 edge in the top of the fifth. Saint Joseph's (Conn.) countered back scoring two runs in the bottom half of the inning to take a one-run lead, 2-1.
However, Albertus Magnus outscored the Blue Jays 5-1 over the next inning and a half to secure game one, 6-3.
Game 2:
Albertus Magnus opened game two with the quick 2-0 lead, behind RBI from Melissa Castillo (Taftville, Conn.) and Kristen Cunning (Hoboken, N.J.), but the Blue Jays answered back scoring six runs on six hits and two errors by the visitors to take a 6-2 lead.
Senior Gillian Fortier (Naugatuck, Conn.) brought the Falcons to within three, 603, following her fourth home run of the season, but it wasn't enough as the Blue Jays sealed the conference split with an 8-3 win after scoring an additional two runs in the second and kept the Falcons at bay over the final five innings.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
On the Mound (G1):
- Albertus Magnus - Laura Anderson(W, 7-3): 7.0 IP | 8 H | 3 R | 1 ER | 2 BB | 2 SO
- Saint Joseph's (Conn.) - Sharon Amaria (L, 10-9): 5.1 IP | 9 H | 4 R | 4 ER | 3 BB | 1 SO | 1 HR
At the Plate (G1):
- Fortier and Castillo led the offensive attack for the Falcons with three hits each while Fortier collected a game-high two RBI and a run scored.
- Along with her home run, Wehder recorded a team-best two runs scored and a RBI.
- Isabella Russo posted a 2-of-3 performance for the Blue Jays.
- Three different players from Saint Joseph's recorded an RBI and a run scored, respectively.
- Albertus Magnus finished game one, 14-for-30 while Saint Joseph's posted an 8-of-27 performance at the plate.
On the Mound (G2):
- Albertus Magnus - Kristen Cunning (L, 9-6): 6.0 IP | 8 H | 8 R | 8 ER | 4 BB | 5 SO
- Saint Joseph's (Conn.) - Alessandra Milardo (W, 10-3): 7 H | 3 H | 3 R | 3ER | 3 BB | 3 SO | 1HR
At the Plate (G2):
- Fortier also led the Falcons in game two with a game-high three hits over four at bats as well as tallied a run scored and a RBI.
- Milardo paced the Blue Jays on the mound and at the plate with a team-high two hits, two runs scored as well as added an RBI to her stat line.
- Kara Klimaszewski recorded three of the hosts' six RBI.
- In game two, the Blue Jays posted an 8-7 edge in hits over the Falcons.
UP NEXT
The softball team returns to the diamond this weekend with a pair of conference doubleheaders against Emmanuel (Mass.) and Saint Joseph's of Maine. In between Saturday's doubleheader against Emmanuel (Mass.), the softball team will be recognizing its six-member senior class - Gillian Fortier, Megan Ferraro, Brianna Whitfield, Daysia Wehder, Melissa Castillo and Samantha Maselli.