WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - The Albertus Magnus College softball team bounced back from a game one loss to take game two and split a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) doubleheader with the University of Saint Joseph (CT) on a beautiful Tuesday afternoon at the USJ Softball Field.
THE BASICS - G1
FINAL SCORE: Saint Joseph (CT) 6 | Albertus Magnus 0
MATCH-UP: This is the 52nd and 53rd all-time meeting between the two teams.
LOCATION: USJ Athletic Complex - Softball Field
BOX SCORE
HOW IT HAPPENED - G1
Junior Jess Stettinger (East Haven, Conn.) got the Falcons on the bags quickly in the first inning, working a lead-off walk. She was quickly erased when Blue Jays hurler Natalie Amato induced a line out to shortstop to double up Stettinger. Falcons starter, sophomore Karissa Kerrs (Wappingers Falls, New York) did her part in the circle in the bottom half of the frame, twirling a three-up, three-down inning against the Blue Jays.
With two outs in the second, fifth-year senior Laura Anderson (East Haven, Conn.) tallied the game's first hit with a hard single through the left side. The effort was for naught, as Amato got a pop-out to end the inning. Kerrs stymied the Blue Jays lineup in the bottom of the second, allowing just one single and holding the hosts to goose eggs.
The Falcons went down in order in the third, before the Blue Jay offense dialed in against Kerrs and hung a three-spot on the board, behind a trio of Blue Jay hits and a pair of Falcon errors.
Albertus' offense continued to struggle against Amato in the fourth, failing to put a baserunner on the bags. Kerrs made up for her rocky third inning by pitching a clean three-up, three-down fourth and keeping the game in reach for the Falcons.
The Albertus offense went down in order again in the fifth inning, before the Blue Jay bats came alive again. A pair of walks to start the frame chased Kerrs from the game and made way for Bernadette Kingsbury (Trumbull, Conn.). The sophomore pitcher struck out the next batter for the first out before back-to-back walks for the Blue Jays scored a run. A fielder's choice groundout and a Blue Jays base hit scored another pair of runs before Kingsbury struck out Riley Mulligan to halt the onslaught.
Down by six, 6-0, the Falcons vainly tried to spark the offense in the top half of the sixth. Ivy Geloso (Beacon Falls, Conn.) reached on an error before Stettinger ripped a single through the left side to put two on with one out for the Falcons. A fielder's choice and a strikeout halted the Falcon rally and sent the teams to the bottom half of the frame. Kingsbury held the Blue Jays in check, throwing a scoreless inning and sending the Falcons into their last at-bats.
Kayla Resto (Shelton, Conn.) led the Falcons off with a long double into the right-center field gap. That would be the only excitement of the inning for Albertus, as Amato retired the next three hitters to finish the complete-game shutout.
TOP PERFORMERS
- WP: Natalie Amato (W, 3-0) | LP: Karissa Kerrs (L, 0-1)
- Kingsbury recorded the Falcons only two strikeouts of the game.
- Stettinger and Resto each registered a hit for the visitors.
- Megan Burke led the Blue Jays' offense with two hits to go along with an RBI and a run scored.
THE BASICS - G2
FINAL SCORE: Albertus Magnus 6 | Saint Joseph (CT) 3
RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (4-4, 4-2 GNAC) | Saint Joseph (CT) (4-2, 4-2 GNAC)
LOCATION: USJ Athletic Complex - Softball Field
BOX SCORE
HOW IT HAPPENED - G2
The Falcons pounced early in the second contest, as Geloso led off game two with a single through the left-field side. Sophomore Ava Gladwin (Guilford, Conn.) and Stettinger followed with back-to-back walks to load the bases. Despite a strikeout, Anderson reached on a fielder's choice to score Geloso from third and give the Falcons the early 1-0 lead. Anderson made a statement in the bottom half of the first, throwing a scoreless three-up, three-down inning, and striking out Jenna Masiello for good measure.
Albertus added to its lead in the top half of the second after scoring one run on one hit. A Resto single into the left-center field gap got the visitors started. Sophomore Peyton Davis (North Haven, Conn.) dropped a perfect bunt down the line to move Resto to second with only one out. A wild pitch advanced her to third, before a Janelle Franklin (Middletown, Conn.) sacrifice fly into center field scored the Falcons' second run of the game. An error and a walk put two on for the Falcons with two away, before Blue Jays pitcher Julia Annecchiarico got Stettigner to foul out to end the inning.
The Falcons threatened in the top of the third, as Kingsbury roped a double to the centerfield wall to lead it off. After two quick outs, Resto bounced an infield single through the left side to put runners on the corners. The rally was short-lived, as Resto was caught stealing second to end the inning. Anderson continued her magic from the circle in the bottom of the third, mowing through the Blue Jays lineup with ease on the strength of three straight ground ball outs.
In the top of the fifth, the Falcons offense continued to roll. After two quick outs, Angelina Ramada (North Branford, Conn.) worked a walk, before Resto turned on a pitch and drove it into the left-centerfield gap for the RBI double. Annecchiarico rebounded following the at-bat by getting the strikeout to end the frame. The Blue Jays finally broke through against Anderson in the bottom of the fifth, scoring a pair of runs on three hits and an error to make it a one-run game, 3-2, in favor of the Falcons.
Albertus responded by loading the bases with one out for Stettinger to start the sixth inning. The junior catcher didn't disappoint, driving a pitch to the wall in right-center for a two-run RBI double. Moments later, Anderson followed with a hard single up the middle to score Stettinger from second, giving the Falcons the four-run lead, 6-2. Despite a pair of base runners to lead off the bottom of the sixth, Anderson continued to bedazzle the Blue Jays offense, recording three straight outs to send the teams into the final frame.
The Falcons went three-up, three-down in the top half of the last frame. Despite a messy seventh inning, Anderson recorded the final three outs of the game to secure the 6-3 win for the Falcons and tally her 37th career victory from the circle.
TOP PERFORMERS
- WP: Laura Anderson (W, 3-2) | LP: Julia Annecchiarico (L, 0-1)
- Anderson finished with four strikeouts over seven innings.
- Following today's victory, Anderson has thrown 41 complete games over her career.
- Resto paced the Falcons offense with three hits, an RBI, and a run scored.
- Stettinger and Anderson each tallied two RBI for Albertus.
- Jenna Masiello led the Blue Jays offense with two hits and an RBI.
