Bethel, Conn. – The Mount Saint Mary College Softball team picked up a pair of non-conference wins at Western Connecticut on Thursday, scoring a 13-8 game one winning and earning a hard fought 4-3 victory in game two. Five Knights recorded at least two hits in the opener and Cindy Connoly (Walden, N.Y.) struck out 13 in the game two triumph.
 
Game 1: Mount Saint Mary 13 – Western Connecticut 8
The Knights plated a season-high 13 runs in the opener on Thursday and recorded five extra bases hits, including a double and a triple from Breanna DePasquale (Brooklyn, N.Y.). Bridget Bennett (Gardiner, N.Y.) earned the win in the circle for the Mount and Connoly came in to record the final five outs in the win.
 
After falling behind 4-0 in the first inning, Mount Saint Mary evened the score with three runs in the third and one more in the fourth. DePasquale drove home two runs with a triple in the third and later scored on a double off the bat of Courtney Barbara (Fishkill, N.Y.) to bring the Knights to within one.
 
The Mount got even an inning later when Michelle Surdan (Acton, Mass.) singled home Shannon Sommer (Brewster, N.Y.) with two outs in the frame.
 
Western Connecticut moved back in front 5-4 with a single run in the fifth before Mount Saint Mary broke the game open with eight runs in the top of the sixth inning. The Knights produced six hits in the inning with DePasquale doubling home a run. Leading 7-5, Sommer cleared the bases with a three-run triple and later scored on an Amanda Almodovar (Goshen, N.Y.) bunt base hit. The big inning was capped by a run scoring triple from Surdan with two outs in the inning.
 
The Knights plated another run in their final at-bat of game one when Connoly scored on an error. The Colonials would scorer twice in the bottom of the seventh, but Connoly fanned two batters in the inning to thwart the threat.
 
The first four hitters in the Mount Saint Mary lineup finished with at least two hits in the opener with Almodovar going 3-for-4 with three runs and an RBI. Surdan finished up 3-for-5 with a triple, run scored and two runs batted in. Sommer and DePasquale each totaled two hits, with each player scoring twice and driving in three runs.
 
Bennett picked up her third win of the season in game one with 5.1 innings of work. She allowed only two earned runs on seven hits and struck out one. Connoly came on to work the final 1.2 innings for the Knights, surrendering two runs on three hits and striking out three.
 
Game 2: Mount Saint Mary 4 – Western Connecticut 3
The Knights jumped out front in game two with a run in the first before falling behind 3-1 after three runs from the Colonials in the home half of the third frame. Sommer scored on a groundout to get the Knights off to a quick start, before Tori Dugan and Kayla Nowak sparked the three run inning with run scoring base hits for Western Connecticut in the third.
 
Trailing by two runs, the Knights got even in the fourth with a pair of tallies and scored the eventual game inning run in the top of the seventh. DePasquale drove in her fifth run of the day in the fourth with a single that delivered Sommer and Almodovar scored on a fielder's choice to even the score.
 
After the Colonials put runners on first and third with no one out in the bottom of the sixth and could not score, the Knights got the deciding run on a walk in their final at-bat. A Sommer single with two outs in the seventh loaded the bases for Almodovar, who walked to drive home Lauren Oury (Bethpage, N.Y.).
 
Western Connecticut mounted a final rally, putting two runners in scoring position with one out, but Connoly followed with a strikeout and got a comeback ground ball to end the threat and secure the Knights' second straight sweep.
 
Sommer finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored, with Surdan, Kathryn Eiler (Merrick, N.Y.) and Oury all finishing with two hits apiece. DePasquale drove in two more runs for the Mount.
 
Connoly worked her seventh complete game of the season in game two and collected her fourth win of the year. She equaled her season-high with 13 strikeouts, allowing three runs on nine hits in the victory.
 
Thursday's sweep pushes Mount Saint Mary back to the .500 mark overall at 7-7 on the season. The Knights are scheduled to be back in action on Saturday for a Skyline Conference road set at the College of Mount Saint Vincent. First pitch at Randall's Island #14 is set for 12:00 p.m.