Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Softball team was back in action on campus Wednesday afternoon and split a non-conference twin bill with Russell Sage, topping the Gators 5-3 in game one before dropping the night cap 6-2.
Bridget Morris (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) earned the game one victory and matched her career-high with 14 strikeouts.
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Wednesday split moves Mount Saint Mary to 5-9 overall on the season with Russell Sage standing at 6-6 through 12 games.
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Game 1: Mount Saint Mary 5 – Russell Sage 3
How It Happened
- No one was able to score until the fifth inning when the Knights pushed across the first run of the game.
- After Sofia Gannon (East Patchogue, N.Y.) led off the inning with a single and made her way to third with two outs, Paige Shrimpton (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) shot a single through the middle to move the Knights in front 1-0.
- The Gators promptly scored two runs in the top of the sixth on a two-run triple off the bat of Arianna Papas.
- Trailing by a run, the Mount put up four tallies in the home half of the sixth to move in front 5-2.
- The Knights scored four unearned runs, taking advantage of two key Gator errors, to grab the lead for good in the game.
- Russell Sage plated a run in the seventh following a leadoff triple from Katelyn Rice, but Grace MacDonald (Concord, N.H.) got the final two outs to record her first career save.
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For The Knights
- Morris worked 6.1 strong innings in moving to 3-4 on the season. She surrendered three runs on four hits while fanning 14 Gators. Morris reached double-figures in strikeouts for the second time this season and punched out 14 batters in a game for the second time in her career.
- MacDonald retired the only two batters she faced, including a strikeout to end the game, to notch the save.
- Olivia Ferara (Middletown, N.Y.) finished the game 2-for-4 with a run scored.
- Shrimpton recorded two hits and drove in a run.
- Gannon posted a hit and scored two runs.
- Laura Dentato (Farmingdale, N.Y.) and Riley Norwood (East Haven, Conn.) each finished with a hit and run scored for the Mount.
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Game 2: Russell Sage 6 – Mount Saint Mary 2
How It Happened
- The Gators did all of their scoring in game two in the top of the fourth inning, stringing together five hits and taking advantage of an error.
- Taylor Dicranian delivered two runs in the inning with a double with Emma Heartquist pushing home two more runs with a single.
- Papas and Amber Banas each drove in runs in the fourth with sacrifice flies.
- Mount Saint Mary cut into its deficit with its only two runs of the game in the home half of the sixth frame.
- Kaeli McAnally (Bay Shore, N.Y.) walked to start the inning before a Dentato single put runners on first and second with no one out.
- Melanie McClinchey (Medford, N.Y.) shot a single through the left side to deliver McAnally before a groundout from Dana Donnelly (Yulan, N.Y.) pushed home the second run of the inning to close out the scoring in the game.
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For The Knights
- Dentato recorded a hit and a run scored in game two.
- Ferara, McClinchey and Alicia Killeen (Nesconset, N.Y.) each added singles in the game.
- McAnally scored a run and drew a walk.
- MacDonald suffered the loss in game two, allowing six runs on seven hits in 3.1 innings of work.
- Donnelly worked 3.2 scoreless innings of relief, allowing one hit and striking out one.
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What's Next
- Mount Saint Mary opens Skyline Conference play on Sunday at St. Joseph's-L.I.
