Grenache Provides Decisive Blast In Opener, Mottau Provides Equalizing Homer In Nightcap As Softball Posts 5-3 Northeast-10 Triumph Over Franklin Pierce, Plays To 6-6 Nightcap Tie

April 3, 2006

STONEHILL SOFTBALL

Monday, April 3, 2006

Gartland Field, Easton, Mass.

GAME #1 FINAL:STONEHILL 5, FRANKLIN PIERCE 3

1234567RHE

Franklin Pierce (5-6, 0-1 Northeast-10)0001020-3100

Stonehill (8-5, 1-0 Northeast-10)203000x-560

BATTERIES

FPC:Lindsay Knapp and Kate Surgen

STO:Danielle Mason and Caitlin Flanagan

WP:Mason (5-1)LP:Knapp (2-3)

Home Runs:FPC Lindsay Knapp (2), Stephanie Howard (1); STO Christine Grenache (2)

GAME #2 FINAL:STONEHILL 6, FRANKLIN PIERCE 6 (6 INNINGS, DARKNESS)

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Franklin Pierce (5-6-1, 0-1-1 Northeast-10)004002-640

Stonehill (8-5-1, 1-0-1 Northeast-10)310002-651

BATTERIES

FPC:Courtney Jacobs and Kate Surgen

STO:Katie Mottau and Courtney Young

Home Runs:STO Katie Mottau 2 (2), Courtney Young (2)

EASTON, Mass.-- Senior Christine Grenache's (Leominster, Mass.) three-run homer in the third inning proved to be the difference in leading Stonehill to a 5-3 Northeast-10 Conference softball victory over Franklin Pierce Monday afternoon at Gartland Field. The second game of the doubleheader between the squads was called after six innings due to darkness with the two teams tied at 6-6.

The host Skyhawks (8-5-1, 1-0-1 Northeast-10) jumped out to a 2-0 first inning lead in the opener on a pair of RBI groundouts by sophomores Jaime Ippolito (Chelsea, Mass.) and Caitlin Flanagan (Cornwall, N.Y.), and Stonehill extended that margin to 5-0 in the third as Ippolito singled, advanced to second on a walk to Flanagan that was followed by a 270-home run over the centerfield fence by Grenache, her second round-tripper of the season. The visiting Ravens (5-6-1, 0-1-1 Northeast-10) got on the board in the fourth on freshman Stephanie Howard's (Norwalk, Conn.) first collegiate home run and closed to within 5-3 in the sixth when sophomore Lindsay Knapp (Elmira, N.Y.) led off with a homer that was followed later in the frame on an RBI groundout by freshman Jen Ryan (Winthrop, Mass.), but that would be as close as the visitors would come in the contest.

Sophomore Stephanie Folan (Glen Cove, N.Y.) had two of Stonehill's six hits in the win, as sophomore Danielle Mason (Salisbury, Mass.) scattered 10 hits and fanned three while working out of a couple of late innings jams to pick up the victory on the mound for the Skyhawks, improving to 5-1 on the season. Howard, Knapp and sophomore Jenna Giardina (Pittsfield, Mass.) each had two hits in the setback for Franklin Pierce, as Knapp allowed six hits and five runs while striking out four on the mound for the Ravens, falling to 2-3 on the season.

Stonehill jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in its first two at-bats of the nightcap, as a Flanagan RBI single coupled with a two-run homer off the bat of freshman Courtney Young (Danvers, Mass.) (her second of the season), gave the hosts a 3-0 lead in the first, and a lead-off homer in the bottom of the second by freshman Katie Mottau (Woonsocket, R.I.) staked the hosts to a 4-0 cushion. Franklin Pierce answered back with four runs in the third to even matters, as a pair of RBI singles by freshmen Elaine Matthews (Roslindale, Mass.) and Jackie Prybella (Marshfield, Mass.), coupled with a bases-loaded walk to Howard and a sacrifice fly by junior Michelle McConnell (Elora, Ont.), tied the score. The Ravens took a 6-4 lead in the top of the sixth on an error and an RBI double by sophomore Nicole Leary (Hanover, Mass.), but Mottau provided the heroics for Stonehill in the bottom of the frame, as her two-out, two-run homer (her second of the contest and career) evened matters for the Skyhawks, and the game was called after the inning ended.

Mottau accounted for two hits and three RBI at the plate for Stonehill, as she allowed just four hits and five earned runs in six innings of work on the mound for the Skyhawks. Four different Ravens picked up hits in the tie for Franklin Pierce, as freshman Courtney Jacobs (Fitchburg, Mass.) allowed five hits and struck out 11 in going the distance for the visitors.

Stonehill travels to Smithfield, R.I. on Thursday afternoon to take on Bryant in a Northeast-10 twinbill that begins at 3:00 p.m., while Franklin Pierce hosts Merrimack in a Northeast-10 doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon in Rindge, N.H. at 3:30 p.m.