Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

NEWBURGH, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College softball team (14-6) swept a non-conference doubleheader against John Jay College of Criminal Justice (4-8) Thursday afternoon due in large part to a pair of stellar pitching performances by senior starter Amanda Barrese (Staten Island, N.Y.) and sophomore starter Victoria Goldbach (Middle Village, N.Y.) in the Knights' home opener at the Mount. The Knights won the first game, 3-2, and capped off the sweep with an 8-0 win in the finale.
 
Sophomore center fielder Sabrina Gordek (Levittown, N.Y.) kicked off the scoring in game one with an RBI groundout in the bottom of the second to put the Knights up, 1-0.
 
John Jay took the lead in the top of the third when catcher Jennifer Varela doubled down the left field line to bring in a pair of unearned runs, giving the Bloodhounds a 2-1 lead.
 
The Knights responded quickly, as junior third baseman Danielle Soto (Miller Place, N.Y.) slammed a double to left to knock in two runs and give the Knights the eventual final score of 3-2.
 
Barrese evened out her overall record, improving to 4-4 on the season after tossing seven innings without allowing an earned run. She struck out six batters and allowed just three hits. Sara McKenna suffered the loss for John Jay after allowing three runs across six innings.


Soto hit 2-for-3 with a team-high two RBI in game one. Senior designated player Ashley Peel (Shelton, Conn.) also went 2-for-3, scoring a run.
 
Third baseman Marlin Rallas led John Jay with a 2-for-3 outing in Thursday's opener. Varela knocked in the Bloodhounds' only two runs in her 1-for-3 effort.
 
Game two told a different story, as the Knights looked much more dominant from the get-go. Sophomore right fielder Brianne Germain (Greenwood Lake, N.Y.) put the Knights ahead in the first on a sacrifice fly that easily scored freshman second baseman Shannon Sommer (Brewster, N.Y.) from third. The Knights got another in the third on a dropped fly ball that brought in junior catcher Stephanie Karcher (Oxford, Conn.) to push the Knight lead to 2-0.
 
Sommer picked up an RBI in the fourth with a triple to deep center that plated Peel. She scored immediately after when Germain singled into right field to improve the Knight advantage to four runs.
 
A big Knight rally in the sixth ended with walk-off mercy-rule finish. Freshman first baseman Michelle Surdan (Acton, Mass.) brought Sommer in from third on a groundout for the Knights' first run of the inning. Soto followed with an RBI single to plate Germain. The big blast came off of Karcher's bat, as she smacked a two-run homer to end the game at 8-0.
 
13 of the 18 outs the Knights recorded defensively came by strikeout by Goldbach. She only allowed one hit across six scoreless innings to improve to 5-1 on the year. Lana Kovac shouldered the loss for the Bloodhounds, allowing eight runs (six earned) and 13 hits across 5.1 innings of work.
 
Karcher went 3-for-3 with a double, a home run, two RBI and two runs to lead the Knights in the nightcap on Thursday. Sommer went 4-for-4 out of the leadoff spot, scoring three times and knocking in a run. Germain plated a pair and scored once herself in a 2-for-3 outing in game two.
 
Rallas picked up the only hit for John Jay in Thursday's finale, going 1-for-3.
 
The Knights return to action on Saturday, April 5, when they host the College of Mount Saint Vincent in a Skyline Conference doubleheader. First pitch of game one will be thrown at 12 p.m.
 
Follow the Knights on Twitter at @MSMCKnights