East Boston, Mass. - The Albertus Magnus College Softball team dropped a 9-5 decision late to Suffolk University in the second round of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tournament on Saturday morning.
The Falcons wasted little time getting on the board in the bottom of the first inning following back to back doubles from junior Rachel Cataudella (Shelton, Conn.) and senior Alyssa Puccilli (Milford, Conn.) making the score 1-0. Sophomore Brianna Whitfield (West Islip, N.Y.) would score Puccilli on a sacrfice fly to centerfield giving Albertus the early 2-0 lead.
Suffolk would respond in the top half of the second on freshman Jill Pulek's (Cheshire, Conn.) lead-off solo home-run to cut the lead to 2-1. The Falcons would escape an eventual bases loaded jam to keep the score 2-1.
Albertus would add to their lead plating two runs in the bottom of the third inning. Whitfield would drive in Cataudella with an infield single following a double steal moving the runners to second and third. Sophomore Daysia Wehder (Queens, N.Y.) would drive in the second run for the Falcons on a sacrifice fly giving Albertus the 4-1 lead.
Suffolk freshman Karina Miranda (Springfield, Mass.) hit a two-run triple to cut the Falcons lead to 4-3 in the top of the fifth. Albertus would respond stretching their lead to 5-3 when Wehder singled to left driving in Cataudella in the bottom of the fifth.
In the top of the sixth, sophomore Delaney Sylvester (Worcester, Mass.) got the Suffolk comeback started with an RBI double to left center field to knock in Pulek. Sophomore Morgan Parmeter (Maynard, Mass.) followed with a two-run homerun over the left field fence to give the Rams their first lead of the game, 6-5.
Sophomore pitcher Ali Yamakaitis (Avenel, N.J.) held the Falcons' offense scoreless for the remainder of the game , pitching a complete seven innings, notching five strikeouts and improving to 12-4 on the season.
The Rams would add three runs in the top of seventh to give them the eventual 9-5 victory. The Falcons end their season with an overall record of 22-17, 12-10 GNAC.
