Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Softball team closed the 2019 regular season on Saturday with a split against Farmingdale State. Junior
Lauren Oury (Bethpage, N.Y.) hit two of the team's four home runs on the day, hitting a two-run shot in a 3-2 game one loss and adding a solo shot in an 8-3 game two victory.
Game 1: Mount Saint Mary 2 – Farmingdale State 3
The Knights got off to a good start in the opener, grabbing a 2-0 lead in the home half of the second inning. After
Morgan O'Neill (Little Falls, N.J.) opened the inning with a single, Oury hammered her first home run of the season out to left field to get the Knights on the board.
The two-run lead held until the top of the seventh inning, when the visitors scored each of their three runs. With one out and no one on base, Lexie Collard worked a walk that was followed by three straight base hits. Priscilla Rivera singled up the middle to put two one and Jessica Clark followed with a run scoring single through the middle to slice the Mount's lead in half.
Farmingdale State got the game even on a Jessica Lombardo double to right centerfield that delivered Rivera and Clark crossed with the eventual game winning run a batter later when she came home on a run scoring groundout off the bat of Julianna Prescia.
After grabbing the lead, Farmingdale State starter Maddy Smith retired the Knights in order to secure her seventh win of the season. Smith moved to 7-5 after allowing two runs on four hits and striking out four.
Farmingdale State outhit the Mount 7-4 in game one with Lombardo going 2-for-4 with an RBI. Collard, Rivera and Clark all finished the win with a hit and a run scored for the Rams.
Amanda Almodovar (Goshen, N.Y.), O'Neill, Oury and
Nicolette Moustouka (Seaford, N.Y.) all recorded hits for the Knights in the game. Oury finished with a run and two RBI with Almodovar and
Julia Rigney (Verona, N.J.) each swiping a bag for the Knights.
Junior
Bridget Bennett (Gardiner, N.Y.) suffered the loss in game one and fell to 6-6 on the season. She surrendered three runs on seven hits in the loss. She walked five and struck out two for the Knights.
Game 2: Mount Saint Mary 8 – Farmingdale State 3
The Knights again jumped to a 2-0 lead again in game two with single runs in the first and second frames.
Emily Lang (Westtown, N.Y.) clubbed her second home run of the season to open the scoring in the first inning and
Jillian Picarillo (Troy, N.Y.) followed in the second with a two-out, run scoring single that delivered Bennett for the early two-run lead.
Farmingdale State answered in the top of the third with three runs to jump in front 3-2, but the Knights came right back in the bottom of the fourth with three runs of their own and tacked on three more tallies in the fifth to close out the scoring in the game.
The Knights used two hits and took advantage of two errors in the fourth. Oury scored on a wild pitch to even the score at 3-3 and
Alyssa Hernandez drove out her first home run of the year, a two-run blast, to push the Mount in front for good in the game.
The Knights strung together five hits in the home half of the fifth inning to put the game away. Oury opened the scoring in the inning with her second home run of the day with Almodovar and Moustouka also driving in runs in the frame for the Mount.
Mount Saint Mary pounded out 14 hits in game two and outhit the Rams 14-7. Five Knights finished with two hits in the game, including Hernandez who finished 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI. Moustouka, O'Neill, Bennett and Picarillo each finished with a pair of safeties with Oury and Bennett joining Hernandez with two runs scored.
O'Neill earned the win in the circle for the Knights and moved to 4-4 on the season with the victory. She worked 5.1 innings, allowing just one earned run on six hits while striking out two.
MacKenzie Hymes (Middletown, Del.) worked the final 1.2 innings, surrendering just a hit and a walk.
Saturday's split moves Mount Saint Mary to 13-20-1 overall and to and 12-4 in Skyline Conference play. The Knights will open play in the Skyline Conference Championship on Wednesday at a time to be announced.
