West Hartford, Conn. – The Albertus Magnus College softball team dropped a 5-1 decision in the second round of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tournament to Johnson and Wales University on Friday afternoon. The seventh seeded Falcons were being hosted by the third seeded Wildcats at the University of St. Joseph's.
Following a scoreless first inning, the Falcons would strike first in the top of the second inning on freshman Maxine Sanchez's (Coronoa, N.Y.) sacrifice fly to left field plating sophomore Gillian Fortier (Naugatuck, Conn.) with the game's first run. Fortier led off the inning with a single before senior Alyssa Puccilli (Milford, Conn.) dropped down a sacrifice bunt moving Fortier into scoring position. Sophomore catcher Daysia Wehder (Queens, N.Y.) would reach base on a Wildcat throwing error leaving runners at the corners and one out for Sanchez.
Johnson and Wales would immediately respond as junior Emily Schaper (Pompton Lakes, N.J.) double down the left field line to open the bottom of the second inning. Following a sacrifice fly to move Schaper to third, junior Angelica Reyes (Arelta, Calif.) tied the score at 1-1 with her RBI single to left field. After a Wildcat ground out, freshman Brenna DuPerry (Cranston R.I.) singled to put runners on the corners with two outs. DuPerry would steal second just before freshman Megan Gavin's (Wallingford, Conn.) single to left field for two RBI's making the score 3-1. Gavin was thrown out at second base trying to advance on the throw home to end the inning.
The game would remain scoreless until the bottom of the sixth when Wildcat sophomore Jennifer Corona (Middle Island, N.Y.) singled to start the inning. Reyes would lay down the sacrifice bunt before sophomore Alex Fantasia (Framingham, Mass.) and DuPerry delivered back to back doubles to give Johnson and Wales the 5-1 lead and eventual final score as Albertus would fail to mount a comeback in the seventh.
The Falcons were paced by junior Rachel Cataudella (Shelton, Conn.) and junior Megan Kelly (Bronx, N.Y.) who had two hits each. Sophomore Sam Maselli (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) suffered the loss for the Falcons and is 2-2 on the season. The Wildcats were led with two hits each from senior Kristen Solari (Old Bridge, N.J.), junior Emily Gorecki (Bremeton, Wash.), DuPerry, Schaper, and Reyes. With the win, Corona improves to 17-5 on the season.
Albertus Magnus travels to East Boston, Mass. to take on the number one seeded Suffolk University Rams at 10:00 am. The Falcons split a doubleheader earlier this season against the Rams in East Boston, Mass.
