FRANKLIN, Mass. - Looking for the doubleheader sweep on Saturday afternoon, the Albertus Magnus College softball team took care of business, scoring a combined 15 runs in two games to walk away with a pair of conference wins against Dean College. After a 7-1 final in game one, the Falcons piled on eight runs in game two, walking away with an 8-2 road victory.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE (GAME 1): Albertus Magnus 7 | Dean College 1
MATCH-UP: This is the third and fourth all-time meeting between these two teams.
LOCATION: Longley Athletic Complex
BOX SCORE
HOW IT HAPPENED
Albertus came out swinging in the top of the first as the Lady Falcons scored one run on two hits and capitalized on a Bulldog error to take the early 1-0 advantage. Junior Jess Stettinger (East Haven, Conn.) kicked things off with a leadoff single to centerfield before finding herself on second following a wild pitch by Deans' Zoe Coleman. Sophomore Janelle Franklin (Middletown, Conn.) kept things going with an infield single that allowed Stettinger to advance to third before she found herself crossing home on a throwing error. However, three straight outs by the visitors ended the inning.
The Falcons remained active at the plate in the top of the second as freshman Erin Molkenthin (East Haddam, Conn.) recorded her first collegiate home run, extending the visitors' lead to 2-0. With two outs, Madison LaBossiere (Griswold, Conn.) singled up the middle and found herself on second following a stolen base, but a Stettinger groundout left LaBossiere stranded.
Albertus continued to swing the bat against Coleman and managed to tack on an additional two runs in the top of the third, behind a two-run homer by junior Ivy Geloso (Beacon Falls, Conn.). With two outs and a runner on third, Geloso found her pitch and drove in Peyton Davis (North Haven, Conn.), who got things started with a walk following a leadoff fly out to centerfield.
In the top of the fifth, Stettinger led off with a single to right field followed by a stolen base. The speedy Stettinger advanced to third and scored on an outfield single by Franklin for a 5-0 Albertus lead.
Albertus recorded another two-run inning in the top of the sixth, extending its lead to 7-0. Sophomore Ava Gladwin (Guilford, Conn.) kicked off the inning with a hit-by-pitch before stealing second during Molkenthin's at-bat. An error by Dean, placed senior Megan Anderson (Levittown, N.Y.) on first while Gladwin scored from second, tallying the sixth run for the Falcons. With two outs, Anderson took advantage of a wild pitch and an error by the third baseman that allowed her to score for the seventh run of the game.
Dean earned its only run of the game in the bottom of the sixth as Miranda Seacord scored following a single to right field and back-to-back wild pitches.
Senior Laura Anderson (East Haven, Conn.) was firing on all cylinders in her complete-game effort, allowing one run on four hits - only conceding two walks. This complete game was Anderson's 40th-career and first win of the 2021 season.
TOP PERFORMERS
- WP: Laura Anderson (1-2) | LP: Zoe Coleman (1-1)
- Stettinger recorded her second multi-hit game and tied her season-high of two runs scored.
- Today's two-hit performance was Franklin's first multi-hit game.
- Geloso led the offensive attack with two RBI's.
- Dean was led by Gianna Bencivengo who finished game one 2-for-3 at the plate.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE (GAME 2): Albertus Magnus 8 | Dean 2
RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (3-3, 3-1 GNAC) | Dean (1-3, 1-3 GNAC)
LOCATION: Longley Athletic Complex
BOX SCORE
HOW IT HAPPENED
Albertus jumped out offensively in the first inning, scoring four runs on one hit, including a two-run RBI single from junior Kayla Resto (Shelton, Conn.). Dean jump-started the Falcons' offensive unit early allowing Stettinger to reach first on an error before allowing her to score off a wild pitch from Sari Albury. Molkenthin then scored from third on a passed ball before Resto came up to the plate and drove in Fatima Rosales (East Elmhurst, N.Y.) and Geloso. Despite two outs, Albertus managed to load the bases following a hit-by-pitch from Anderson, but a fly out to right field from Stettinger ended the inning.
Dean responded in the bottom half of the inning with a two-run homer from Bencivengo to cut the lead in half, 4-2.
Following the two-run inning, Albertus went to its bullpen, where we saw Anderson relieve Angela Grindrod (Stratford, Conn.) in the bottom of the second.
The Falcons boosted their lead in the top of the third as Ramda led off the inning with a double down the right-field line. She then managed to cross home following a single from Kayla Despres (Northford, Conn.) and a wild pitch, making the score 5-2. Despite two outs on the scoreboard, Stettinger registered her first home run of the day and extended the Falcons' lead to four, 6-2. Albertus didn't stop there as back-to-back singles and back-to-back wild pitches scored Davis and Molkenthin, giving the Falcons a six-run cushion, 8-2, and forcing Dean to make a pitching change. Following the adjustment, Dean was able to stop the Falcons from doing any more damage as a fly out to left field by Rosales ended the threat.
Going forward, Anderson was able to hit her spots and held the Bulldogs to five hits over the four and a half innings of play to help secure the conference sweep.
TOP PERFORMERS
- WP: Laura Anderson (W, 2-2) | LP: Sari Albury (L, 0-2)
- Molkenthin and Resto led the Falcons at the plate with two hits each, while Resto recorded a season-high two RBI.
- Anderson finished game two with a season-high six strikeouts.
- The Falcons' bullpen recorded no walks and struck out seven.
- Stettinger's home run was her second of the season.
- Both teams finished with nine hits.
