PATCHOGUE, N.Y. – Freshman pitcher
Cindy Connoly (Walden, N.Y.) picked up the win in both games of the Mount Saint Mary College softball team's (16-8, 11-1 Skyline) doubleheader against St. Joseph's College (L.I.) (16-16, 9-5 Skyline) Saturday afternoon at the SJC Outdoor Complex. The Knights picked up a 4-2 win in game one, and finished the day with a 5-1 victory in the finale, locking up a spot in the Skyline Conference Championship Tournament.
Standing 11-1 against Skyline opponents and holding a two-game lead over Sunday's opponent, Farmingdale State College, the Knights have locked up a spot in the 2015 Skyline Tournament. The Knights' magic number to clinch first base is one, meaning all they need to do on Sunday is split with the Rams to earn the right to host the Skyline Conference Championship Tournament next weekend.
Connoly allowed just one earned run across 14 innings as she improved to 8-4 on the season with two more wins. She struck out 15 batters combined without a single walk. She has won all six of her starts against the Skyline Conference this season.
Game 1: Mount Saint Mary 4, St. Joseph's (L.I.) 2Connoly helped her own cause early on in game one, as she blasted a two-run homer in the top of the second to give the Knights an early 2-0 lead.
A little luck and a bit of strategy led to the Knights taking a 4-0 lead in the top of the fifth. With runners on the corners, a wild pitch allowed freshman right fielder
Taylor Canto (Walden, N.Y.) to score the first run of the inning. Later on, freshman designated player
Courtney Barbara (Fishkill, N.Y.) laid down a suicide squeeze, allowing junior center fielder
Sabrina Gordek (Levittown, N.Y.) to score from third to put the Knights up by four.
With a runner on second and two away in the bottom of the sixth, first baseman Gabrielle Cinquemani hit a fly ball to left field, which was misplayed, allowing Cinquemani to round the bases and bring in two runs to cut the Knights' lead in half. Those two unearned runs were all Connoly would allow in the opener, as she allowed just one more base runner over the final four outs.
Connoly struck out nine in the complete-game victory in game one. She scattered six hits across seven innings of work. Mallory McClafferty took the loss for the Golden Eagles, yielding four runs (two earned) on five hits and a pair of walks.
Connoly knocked in two runs on her second inning home run as part of a 1-for-3 effort. Senior catcher
Stephanie Karcher (Oxford, Conn.) hit 2-for-3 with a run scored. Gordek also scored a run in a 1-for-3 outing.
Second baseman Megan Leun hit 2-for-3 and scored a run for the Golden Eagles in game one. Designated player Nicole Reda batted 2-for-2, and third baseman Gianna Gulli turned in a 2-for-3 effort.
Game 2: Mount Saint Mary 5, St. Joseph's (L.I.) 1 The Knights got off to an even quicker start in Saturday's finale, as sophomore first baseman
Michelle Surdan (Acton, Mass.) opened the game with an RBI single in the top of the first for an early 1-0 advantage.
Gordek attempted a suicide squeeze in the top of the second with runners on second and third. She completed the sacrifice, bringing junior third baseman
Chelsea Dexter (Beacon, N.Y.) home from third. An error also allowed sophomore shortstop
Breanna DePasquale (Brooklyn, N.Y.) to move from first to third. This came back to hurt St. Joe's, as a ground out to the pitcher by Barbara brought DePasquale home to give the Knights a 3-0 lead.
Barbara struck again for the Knights in the top of the fourth, bringing Gordek around to score on single to center field. Later in the inning, senior designated player
Danielle Soto (Miller Place, N.Y.) doubled in sophomore second baseman
Shannon Sommer (Brewster, N.Y.) to push the Knight lead to five runs.
The Golden Eagles once again scored too little too late, bringing in their only run in the bottom of the fifth. Leun took advantage of having runners on the corners, bringing in a run on a ground out to second base, but it still left the home team down by four runs, where it would remain for the rest of the game.
Connoly allowed one earned run and scattered four hits across seven innings in game two. She struck out six more batters as the Knights completed the sweep. Lauren Buturla was tagged with the loss after allowing five runs (three earned) and nine hits in seven frames.
The top-three in the Knights' lineup, Barbara, Sommer and Soto, each went 2-for-4 to lead the Knights in game two. Barbara knocked in a pair, Sommer scored a pair and Soto added an RBI of her own. Gordek went 1-for-1 with an RBI, a run and a double.
Left fielder Lindsey Corriss was the only Golden Eagle with multiple hits in game two, as she went 2-for-4 out of the leadoff spot for the home team. Leun and catcher Melanie Boccio each hit 1-for-3.
The Knights host Farmingdale State tomorrow, April 19, at Newburgh Free Academy, in the final Skyline Conference doubleheader of the regular season. The Knights need just one win to clinch the Skyline Conference Regular Season Title. The Knights will also celebrate Senior Day prior to Sunday's first pitch. The first game is set to begin at 12 p.m.
Follow the Knights on Twitter at
@MSMCKnights
