March 22, 2012

Box Score

BOSTON, Mass. - The Emmanuel College Softball Team mounted comebacks to win both games of a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) double-header against Anna Maria College on Thursday night. The pair of wins marked Emmanuel's home and conference openers and featured the Saints topping the Amcats, 10-2 and 6-5. The wins, played under the lights at Roberto Clemente Field, move the Saints to 4-10 on the season, while Anna Maria falls to 0-10.

The opener saw the Saints trailing early and facing a 2-1 deficit through four innings. Emmanuel then put together a six-run fifth inning and tacked on three more in the sixth to end the game early at 10-2.

In the nightcap, the Amcats posted a three-run first inning and held the lead through the top of the six. Trailing 5-2, Emmanuel would then put three runs on the board in the bottom of the sixth, before winning in walk-off fashion with another run in the seventh to take the 6-5 win.

Anna Maria jumped out in front early in the opener after Melissa Stedman (Mason, N.H.) singled in the top of the third for the first hit of the night and the visitors led 2-0. The Saints were able to steal one back in the bottom of the frame, when sophomore Julia Levins (Uxbridge, Mass.) picked up an RBI, scoring freshman Jessica Dold (Medford, Mass.). Emmanuel got two hits in the fourth, but left both runners on base.

The fifth inning was a huge one for the hosts. Levins got things started, when she singled off a bunt and then stole second and third. Freshman Alexandra Bressette (North Easton, Mass.) then hit an RBI single, which scored Levins. Both, Julia Demirali (West Roxbury, Mass.) and Kelly Lloid (Issaquah, Wash.) walked to load the bases and set the stage for Jennifer Garrity (Lynn, Mass.). The sophomore stepped to the plate and lined a three-run single up the middle, which scored Bressette, Demirali and Lloid and the Saints took a 5-2 lead. With just one out in the inning, freshman Catherine Bergeron (Sandwich, Mass.) ripped a shot over the left field fence, scoring two more runs and Emmanuel was out in front, 7-2.

Demirali then hit a two-run single in the sixth, scoring Jackie Murray (Saugus, Mass.) and Kayla Howard (Belmont, N.H.) and the Saints led, 9-2. Levins reached on her second hit of the night and was driven in on a single by Lloid, which ended the game early as Emmanuel went out in front by eight runs, 10-2.

Lloid picked up the win for the Saints, going the full seven innings, striking out 6 and giving up just 2 hits. Anna Maria freshman Nichole Lowe (Milford, Mass.) took the loss for the Amcats.

The Amcats manufactured three runs off of three hits in the first inning of game two, to again jump out in front early. Emmanuel got one back, when Levins singled and again stole second and third, before being driven in by Demirali. Another run scored by Dold in the bottom of the second cut the Emmanuel deficit to 3-2.

Anna Maria crossed the plate twice more in the third, backed by a single from Lowe and a double from Elizabeth Clark (Dover, N.H.), as the visitors led 5-2. Two scoreless innings were played before the Saints mounted their three-run comeback in the sixth.

A single by Carina Paz (Fall River, Mass.) moved Bressette over to third after she reached on an error. Bressette then scored on another Anna Maria error. Freshman Miriam Isreb (Raynham, Mass.) stepped to the plate and hit an RBI single, which scored Paz and Levins singled with her fourth hit of the night to knock in another run, tying the game at 5-all.

Emmanuel's defense put together a one-two-three seventh inning and sent the Amcats back into the field. With two away in the bottom of the frame, Paz smashed her third hit of the game and drove in Bressette for the winning run and Emmanuel came away with the 6-5 win.

Lloid threw the first 5 innings for he Saints, striking out 7 of her 22 batters faced. Levins came in to relieve Lloid in the 6th. Levins didn't give up a hit, fanned one and picked up the win for the Saints. Lowe took the loss in game two for the Amcats, striking out two Saints in the effort.

Emmanuel will return to action on Saturday, when the Saints travel to West Hartford, Connecticut for a GNAC double-header with the Blue Jays of Saint Joseph College. The games are scheduled to begin at 12:00pm.