Game One Boxscore
Game Two Boxscore
WORCESTER, Mass. – Junior Monica Savarese (Orange, Conn.) picked up an RBI in both games of a Tuesday afternoon doubleheader at Assumption College in Worcester, Mass., but the Southern Connecticut State University softball team was swept by the host Greyhounds 11-3 and 4-3.
With the pair of losses, the Owls record falls to 9-20 overall and 2-6 in the Northeast-10. Assumption is now 7-9 overall and an even 3-3 in conference play.
In game one, the Owls struck early in the top of the first inning. A trio of one-out singles by sophomores Khristle Lee (Aztec, N.M.) and Megan Caporossi (Northford, Conn.) and junior Brittany Gandley (Holbrook, N.Y.) loaded the bases for Savarese. The junior cashed in on the opportunity with a hard-hit groundout that plated Lee and advanced Gandley and Caporossi to second and third base respectively. Junior Christina Wolf (Newtown, Conn.) then singled to plate Caporossi, and junior Amanda St. George (Shelton, Conn.) followed with a base hit of her own to drive in Gandley. When the half-inning ended, the Owls had jumped out to a 3-0 advantage.
Assumption battled back with a run off Caporossi in both the second and third innings. Kara Lyons scored on a wild pitch in the second and Amy Gordon crossed home plate in the third via an Owls throwing error.
The score remained at 3-2 until the bottom of the fourth inning, when the Greyhounds took the lead and subsequently put the contest out of reach. Megan Divitto, Amanda Monge and Ashley Bilodeau all contributed two RBI hits to the onslaught. In total, Assumption plated eight runs in the inning to storm out to a 10-2 lead.
The front-end of the twin bill came to an end in the bottom of the fifth inning, as a Marissa Palumbo RBI groundout brought Divitto around to score. With the Owls' deficit at eight runs at 11-3, the contest concluded via the run rule.
Assumption's Heather Brothers hurled four innings, scattering nine hits and allowing three earned runs to improve to 2-1 on the season. Caporossi allowed four hits, four walks and three earned runs in 3+ innings of work to fall to 1-0 in her 2008 pitching debut.
The Greyhound offense continued to roll in the opening frames of the night cap. A Palumbo single plated two runs in the bottom of the first, and Assumption tacked on an additional run in the bottom of the next frame via a Divitto single.
Sophomore pitcher Nicole Marcelynas (Watertown, Conn.) settled down from that point forward, allowing only two hits and no runs in her remaining four innings of work. Meanwhile, the Southern Connecticut chipped away at the Assumption lead.
A sacrifice fly by sophomore Julianne Flood (Poughquag, N.Y.) in the top of the fifth inning plated Wolf to bring the score to 3-1. Savarese would then deliver a sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth to close to deficit to a single run at 3-2 entering the seventh inning.
In the Owls' half of the frame, St. George led off with a triple to right field. The next batter, freshman Robin Priest (Cheshire, Conn.) slapped a single through the left side of the infield to score St. George and knot the contest at 3-3. Sophomore Melissa Corwin (Riverhead, N.Y.) then sacrifice bunted Priest into scoring position, but the Owls failed to cash in on the opportunity.
In the bottom of the inning, Bernadette Fuentes led off for the Greyhounds with a base hit. Gordon sacrifice bunted her into scoring position, and she then moved to third as Divitto reached on a fielder's choice. Monge, the next batter, then delivered for Assumption with the game-winning single to center field.
Lauren Symonick allowed eight hits and three earned runs in a complete game effort to run her record to 5-5 on the season. Senior Jessica Dempsey (Stratford, Conn.) surrendered the game-winning run in relief to fall to 1-4. Marcelynas allowed eight hits and two earned runs in six innings of work.
The Southern Connecticut softball team is back in action on Thursday, April 10 as they return home to New Haven to host Saint Michael's College in a Northeast-10 Conference doubleheader. The first pitch of game one is scheduled for 3 p.m. from Pelz Field.
