Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Softball team opened the 2018 season on Friday and suffered a pair of losses to visiting RPI, falling 3-1 and 7-3. Senior Cindy Connoly (Walden, N.Y.) struck out nine in her first start of the season in the opener and went 4-for-4 at the plate in game two.
 
Game 1: RPI 3 – Mount Saint Mary 1
The Knights got out to an early one run lead in the opener on Friday without the benefit of a hit. Amanda Almodovar (Goshen, N.Y.) was hit with a pitch in her first plate appearance of the season and after stealing second and advancing to third on a bunt, came home on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Connoly.
 
The one run lead held until the Engineers plated a pair of runs in the top half of the fourth inning. After Cam Caswell ripped a one-out double, she was delivered by Christine White with the tying run. Allie Hunt later drove in the eventual game winning run with two outs in the inning with a double to left center.
 
RPI added an insurance run in the seventh inning when Maddie Provencher shot a home run over the left field wall to give the visitors the final two runs advantage.
 
RPI outhit the Knights in the opener 6-3 with half of the hits going for extra bases. Provencher rounded out the game 1-for-3 for RPI with a run scored and an RBI.
 
Courtney Barbara (Fishkill, N.Y.), Kathryn Eiler (Merrick, N.Y.) and Morgan O'Neill (Little Falls, N.J.) produced the hits for the Mount, with Almodovar scoring the run and Connoly recording the lone RBI.
 
Connoly suffered the loss in game one, working a complete game, allowing three runs on six hits. She struck out nine batters, including the side looking in the second frame. Sarah Harms earned the win after allowing a single run on three hits and striking out a pair of Mount Saint Mary hitters.
 
Game 2: RPI 7 – Mount Saint Mary 3
Game two was stopped after six innings due to darkness, with RPI finishing with an 8-7 advantage in hits. The Knights never led in the game, falling behind by 2-0 in the second inning following a run scoring double from Hunt and an RBI single from Stephanie Cavallaro.
 
The Engineers scored in their final five at-bats in game two, plating single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings and two more runs in the sixth. Rebecca Kienz keyed the sixth inning rally with a two-run inside-the-park home run up the right center field gap.
 
Connoly and Taylor Canto (Walden, N.Y.) combined for six of the team's seven hits, with Connoly going 4-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Canto finished up game two 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Knights. Lauren Oury (Bethpage, N.Y.) rounded out game two with a hit and a run scored for the Mount.
 
Cavallaro went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI in game two for the Engineers with Kienz finishing up 2-for-2 with a pair of runs and two RBI.
 
Bridget Bennett (Gardiner, N.Y.) suffered the loss in her first start of the season, allowing six earned runs on seven hits in 5.1 innings of work. She walked seven and struck out six for the Knights. Jaime Cleasby picked up the win, surrendering a single earned run and fanning five.
 
At 0-2 overall on the season, Mount Saint Mary begins Skyline Conference play on Saturday against Sarah Lawrence. The games will be played on the Mount Saint Mary campus starting at noon with the Knights serving as the road team.