Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Softball team returned to action on Thursday and split a non-conference doubleheader with Western Connecticut, dropping a 5-3 decision to the Colonials in the opener before rebounding for a 4-1 game two win. Senior
Cindy Connoly (Walden, N.Y.) struck out 16 batters in two appearances and homered in game two.
Game 1: Western Connecticut 5 – Mount Saint Mary 3
Mount Saint Mary plated the first run of the opener with a tally in their first at-bat of the day.
Amanda Almodovar (Goshen, N.Y.) reached on a bunt single to start the inning and after stealing second and advancing on a sacrifice bunt, came home on a Connoly single to center field for the early 1-0 lead.
The Colonials answered with the tying run in the hope of the second when Kayla Nowak drilled a one out home run out to center field and erupted for four runs in the third, taking advantage of three hits and three Mount Saint Mary errors. Sofia Palacios doubled home a run in the inning and Nowak added a run scoring single.
Mount Saint Mary got a run back in the third when
Kathryn Eiler (Merrick, N.Y.) shot a two-out single up the middle to being home Almodovar and put a runner in scoring position in the fourth and fifth innings, but could not push a run across.
Mount Saint Mary climbed a run closer in the seventh and put the tying runs on base, but plated just a single run on an
Alyssa Hernandez (Middletown, N.Y.) single that pushed Connoly home with the game's final tally.
Connoly and
Emily Lang (Westtown, N.Y.) each finished with two hits in the opener, with Connoly scoring once and driving in a run. Almodovar scored two of the team's three runs with Eiler finishing with a hit, RBI and a pair of walks.
Nowak led the Colonials' offensive attack with a 3-for-3 effort with a home run and a triple to go along with two RBI. Jaclyn Smith moved to 2-0 on the season with 5.0 innings of work, striking out four with Sara Tenke earning the save with 2.0 innings in which she allowed one run and fanned two.
Sophomore
Bridget Bennett (Gardiner, N.Y.) suffered the loss in the circle, allowing just two earned runs, five overall, in 2.1 innings of work. Connoly came on to work 4.2 shutout innings in relief, allowing just two hits and striking out seven.
Game 2: Mount Saint Mary 4 – Western Connecticut 1
The Knights got out front early again in game two, scoring three times on two hits to go along with a Western Connecticut miscue. Almodovar started the inning with an infield single and after
Courtney Barbara (Fishkill, N.Y.) reached on an error, Connoly drove her first home run of the season out to right field for all the scoring the Mount would need in the game.
Mount Saint Mary added a run in the second inning when
Nicolette Moustouka (Seaford, N.Y.) crossed on a two-out error to give the Mount a 4-0 lead.
The Colonials got on the board with their only run of the game in the top of the third inning when Tenke led off the inning with a home run to right field. Western Connecticut would put just one runner in scoring position after the round tripper and was retired by Connoly in order four times in the game.
Connoly led the offensive attack by going 2-for-3 with a run and three RBI with Almodovar and Barbara each finishing with a hit and a run scored. Eiler reached twice in the game with a hit and a walk for the Knights.
Connoly moved to 3-4 on the season and lowered her season ERA by nearly a run with her two appearances on Thursday. In the game two win she worked her fourth complete game of the season, allowing just three hits and striking out nine. Tenke took the loss, allowing two earned runs in three innings.
At 5-8 overall on the season, Mount Saint Mary returns Skyline Conference action on Saturday when it travels to St. Joseph's-Brooklyn. First pitch with the Lady Bears is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.
