Newburgh, N.Y. - The Mount Saint Mary College softball team snapped an eight-game losing streak with a pair of victories over Old Westbury on Saturday. The Blue Knights took game one, 7-2, and held on for a 7-4 win in game two. They improved to 7-15 overall and 6-2 inside the Skyline Conference while the Panthers dropped to 9-9 overall and 1-5 inside the conference.
Scoreless through the first three innings of game one, the Mount finally broke through with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Freshman Sarah Johnson (Montgomery, N.Y.) singled up the middle to lead off the inning. Freshman Jackie Governale (Bethpage, N.Y.) bunted to move Johnson to second and the throw to first scooted down the right field line, allowing Johnson to score and Governale to move all the way to third. Senior Jen Weiner (Walden, N.Y.) then smoked a pitch up the middle for an RBI single, scoring Governale. Weiner stole second, advanced to third on a ground ball to first, and scored on an RBI groundout by junior Christina Maiocco (Rockaway Beach, N.Y.).
In the fifth, senior Regina Ammirati (North Babylon, N.Y.) generated a run with a nice piece of base-running. Moving to second on a sacrifice bunt, Ammirati rounded second and forced Old Westbury to make a play at third. The ball went past the third baseman into the dugout allowing Ammirati to score.
The Panthers finally got on the board in the top of the sixth. Freshman Nicole Rescigno (Howard Beach, N.Y.) doubled into the gap, allowing sophomore Jessica Stoddard (Montgomery, N.Y.) and freshman Maria Canino (Huntington, N.Y.) to score.
Weiner tripled to center to lead off the sixth for the Mount and scored on a sacrifice fly by freshman Erin Dammermuth (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.). Sophomore Christine DelPiano (Orange, Conn.) and Maiocco also scored in the inning to make the tally 7-2 in favor of the Mount.
Dammermuth pitched all seven innings for the Blue Knights, allowing seven hits and two earned runs. The freshman struck out six and pushed her record for the season to 3-5.
In game two, the Panthers struck first as freshman Ashley Esposito (Nesconset, N.Y.) singled to lead off the game and came around to score. The Blue Knights were quick to respond, however, as DelPiano and Johnson each laced RBI doubles in the bottom half of the first.
Mount Saint Mary struck again in the second as Ammirati led off with a single just inside third base and came around to score on a double by Governale. Junior Erin Lappe (Goshen, N.Y.) also scored on the play, making it 5-1.
After three scoreless innings, the Panthers snuck back into the game with three runs in the top of the sixth. Canino and freshman Deborah Ciccarelli (St. James, N.Y.) led off with back-to-back singles and then Stoddard was hit by a pitch to load the bases. A fielder's choice allowed Canino to score and then an error on the next play pushed Ciccarelli across. Esposito singled in Stoddard to cut the deficit to one, but Rescigno lined out with the bases loaded to end the inning.
The Blue Knights got two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth and the Panthers went down easily in the top of the seventh to end the game.
Lappe went the distance for Mount Saint Mary, also allowing seven hits and two earned runs. She struck out six while walking three. Governale, Ammirati, and Johnson each had a pair of hits for the Mount who finished with eight hits in the game. Johnson was 4-for-6 in the double-header. Weiner finshed 3-for-6 with three runs scored.
Esposito, Ciccarelli, and Canino each had two hits for the Panthers in game two. Caninio finished the double-header 4-for-7 at the plate.
Continuing play against Skyline opponents, Mount Saint Mary travels to Russell Sage tomorrow for a double-header that is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. Old Westbury hosts Maritime College at noon.
