The Albertus Magnus softball team swept Emmanuel College in a pair of Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) games on Thursday night in Boston. The Falcons edged the Saints 6-5 in game one before winning game two by a score of 4-2. The Falcons improved to 19-10 on the year with the wins and an impressive 13-4 in league play.
The Falcons' 19 wins this season mark the most in a single-season for head coach Ed Emielita during his tenure at Albertus. The 19 victories also mark the most overall wins in a single-season for the Falcons since 2002 when the club finished 23-12-1 overall, the most wins for Albertus in program history.
The Falcons' 13 wins in league play are the most for the program since finishing the 2002 regular season with a 20-7 record in the GNAC standings.
Albertus opened the late-night doubleheader with a run in the second inning when Carli Matrisian (Milford, Conn.) reached base on an error before scoring on a wild pitch. Emmanuel, now 14-14 overall and 9-9 in GNAC play, tied that game at one in the bottom of the frame with a solo home run by Susie Kieselback.
Emmanuel scored two more runs in the third inning to take a 3-1 lead before adding two more runs to extend their advantage to 5-1 after four frames.
Albertus would combine to score five runs throughout the fifth and sixth innings to edge the Saints 6-5. Amanda Jessey (East Haven, Conn.) began the fifth with a double before the duo of Gillian Fortier (Naugatuck, Conn.) and Melissa Castillo (Taftville, Conn.) knocked in two runs to cut the Saints' lead to two.
Albertus tied the game and scored the eventual game-winner in the top of the sixth inning. Brianna Spadacenta (East Haven, Conn.) led off the frame with a double before Ana Gomez (New Haven, Conn.) pinch ran for the freshman. Megan Kelly (Bronx, N.Y.) singled to put runners on the corners before Gomez scored on an RBI groundout by junior Alyssa Puccilli (Milford, Conn.).
With two outs and a runner on second base, Fortier continued on her path to an historical rookie campaign as she doubled, plating Kelly from second and tying the game at five. Brianna Whitfield (West Islip, N.Y.) followed with an RBI single, scoring Fortier eventual game-winning run.
The Falcons' retired six of the last seven Emmanuel batters en route to the come-from-behind victory.
Freshman pitcher Megan Ferraro (Branford, Conn.) earned the win for the Falcons to improve to 7-4 on the year. She gave up 11 hits and struck out four while allowing zero walks. Jill Kilcoyne for Emmanuel allowed 12 hits and fanned seven Falcons.
In the second game of the doubleheader, Albertus won 4-2 thanks to a 3-for-4 performance from Fortier as well as three RBI and her second career home run.
The Saints led early once again, scoring a run both the first and second innings to jump out to a 2-0 lead. Albertus' first run came in the fourth inning when Fortier led off with her homer to cut the Saints' lead to one.
The Falcons took the lead for good in the fifth inning when they scored two runs thanks to RBI singles from Fortier and sophomore Rachel Cataudella (Shelton, Conn.).
The Falcons opened the seventh inning with a groundrule double by Puccilli before a double by Fortier scored the junior from second to give Albertus a 4-2 lead.
Samantha Maselli (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) earned her GNAC-leading 11th victory of the season from the circle as she improved to 11-1 on the year. The freshman struck out two and allowed two runs on six hits in her complete-game effort.
Samantha Adams picked up the loss for Emmanuel as she dropped to 3-7 on the year. She struck out six and gave up six hits on the night.
Albertus will host Mount Ida College on Saturday in the Falcons' final regular-season home games. First pitched on the turf is slated for 3:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
