Newburgh, N.Y. – Sophomore Taylor Canto (Walden, N.Y.) picked up three hits in game one and Cindy Connoly (Walden, N.Y.) won her seventh game of the season in the opener as the Mount Saint Mary College Softball team stayed perfect in league play on Saturday with 9-0 and 4-1 wins over visiting Purchase.
 
The Knights jumped on top of the Panthers early in game one with four runs in the home half of the first inning. Connoly opened the scoring with an RBI single that delivered Amanda Almodovar (Chester, N.Y.) with Canto, Courtney Barbara (Fishkill, N.Y.) and Breanna DePasquale (Brooklyn, N.Y.) each driving in a run in the inning.
 
The Mount added three more runs in the fifth inning to open a 7-0 lead and put the game away with a pair of runs in the sixth. Connoly connected on her third home run in the fifth and Kathryn Eiler (Merrick, N.Y.) delivered a pair runs with a double later in the frame.
 
In the sixth, Surdan ripped a home run to right center, her first of the season, delivering Almodovar to end the game.
 
Almodovar, Surdan, and Connoly each picked up two hits and scored twice in the opener, with Surdan and Connoly each driving in a pair of runs. Canto closed game one 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles, two runs scored and an RBI. Eiler rounded out the game with two hits and a pair of RBI for the Knights.
 
Connoly continued her strong sophomore campaign with her seventh win in the circle. She moved to 7-1 on the season with a complete game shutout, allowing five hits and striking out nine.
 
After falling behind 1-0 in game two, the Knights plated two runs in the bottom of the first to take the lead for good in the game. Surdan doubled home Shannon Sommer (Brewster, N.Y.) to tie the score at 1-1 and later scored the eventual game winning run on a triple off of Canto's bat.
 
The Knights went on to score two insurance runs in the fifth when Sabrina Gordek (Levittown, N.Y.) and Sommer scored on a throwing error to close the scoring in the game.
 
The Knights were outhit 10-6 in the game, with Sommer leading the Knights with a hit and two runs scored. Surdan doubled and Canto tripled for the Knights and each player finished with an RBI in game two.
 
Victoria Goldbach (Middle Village, N.Y.) picked up her fifth win of the season in the game after working 5.1 innings and striking out six. Connoly came on to work the final 1.2 innings, picking up one strikeout.
 
Saturday's sweep pushes Mount Saint Mary to 16-7 overall on the season and to 14-0 in Skyline Conference play. The Knights will return to action on Sunday when they travel to Sage for a key conference matchup. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.

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