Mendall Tosses Six Solid Innings With Three Strikeouts, Flanagan Belts Solo Homer As Softball Posts 4-3 Opening Game Victory Over Saint Anselm In Split Of Northeast-10 Doubleheader

April 7, 2007

STONEHILL SOFTBALL

Saturday, April 7, 2007

Gartland Field, Easton, Mass.

GAME #1 FINAL: STONEHILL 4, SAINT ANSELM 3

123 456 7 R H E

Saint Anselm (4-14, 1-3 Northeast-10) 000 110 1 - 3 4 1

Stonehill (4-11, 3-2 Northeast-10) 010 210 x - 4 10 1

BATTERIES

STA: Michaella Mahoney, Katie Corey (5) and Brittney Birch

STO: Kait Mendall, Katie Mottau (7) and Courtney Young

WP: Mendall (2-2) LP: Mahoney (1-2) Save: Mottau (1)

Home Runs: STA – Kerry Wilusz (2), Megan Lemire 2 (3); STO – Caitlin Flanagan (1)

GAME #2 FINAL: SAINT ANSELM 3, STONEHILL 1 (NINE INNINGS)

123 456 789 R H E

Saint Anselm (5-14, 2-3 Northeast-10) 000 010 002 - 3 9 0

Stonehill (4-12, 3-3 Northeast-10) 000 100 000 - 1 5 4

BATTERIES

STA: Megan Lemire and Brittney Birch

STO: Danielle Mason, Katie Mottau (8) and Caitlin Flanagan

WP: Lemire (2-3) LP: Mottau (2-5) Home Run: STA – Megan Lemire (4)

EASTON, Mass.-- Freshman Megan Lemire's (Worcester, Mass.) game-winning two-run homer in the top of the ninth lifted Saint Anselm to a 3-1 nightcap victory and a split of a Northeast-10 Conference softball doubleheader with Stonehill on Saturday afternoon at Gartland Field, as the host Skyhawks took the opener by a 4-3 final.

Lemire's third round-tripper of the day came with one out in the ninth frame for the visiting Hawks (5-14, 2-3 Northeast-10), who forged a 1-1 fifth inning tie on an RBI single by junior Andrea Crocker (Amherst, N.H.) after Stonehill (4-12, 3-3 Northeast-10) had taken a 1-0 fourth inning advantage on a double by junior Lauren Rappoli (Wilmington, Mass.) that was followed by an RBI single off the bat of sophomore Yesenia Marrero (Brockton, Mass.), setting up Lemire's heroics. Crocker and sophomore Brittney Birch (Bradford, Mass.) each had two hits as part of nine-hit attack in the nightcap for Saint Anselm, as Lemire also went the distance on the mound in the second game for the Hawks, scattering five hits and fanning four to improve to 2-3. Sophomore Katie Mottau (Woonsocket, R.I.) took the loss in the nightcap for the Skyhawks in relief of junior Danielle Mason (Salisbury, Mass.), who scattered seven hits and struck out five over the first seven innings, as Stonehill loaded the bases in both the seventh and ninth frames but did not score.

The Skyhawks grabbed a 1-0 second inning lead in the opener on an RBI single by junior Lauren Polselli (Portsmouth, R.I.), but Saint Anselm evened matters in the fourth on a solo home run by sophomore Kerry Wilusz (Dighton, Mass.), her second of the season. Stonehill took the lead for good in the bottom of the frame on a solo homer off the bat of junior Caitlin Flanagan (Cornwall, N.Y.), her first of the season, and an RBI double by junior Stephanie Folan (Glen Cove, N.Y.), and the two teams traded single runs in the fifth inning on Lemire's first home run of the day for the Hawks and an RBI single by sophomore Meghan Sheehy (East Islip, N.Y.) in the bottom of the frame for Stonehill. Lemire's second round-tripper of the contest in the seventh accounted for the final score, as Flanagan, Marrero and sophomore Kate Brides (West Bridgewater, Mass.) each had two hits as part of a10-hit Skyhawk attack in support of freshman Kait Mendall (Middleboro, Mass.), who allowed three hits and struck out three over six innings to improve to 2-2 on the mound for the hosts. Mottau picked up her first save of the season for Stonehill, as Lemire's two home runs accounted for half of Saint Anselm's hit total in the opener.

Stonehill travels to Worcester, Mass. on Monday afternoon to take on Assumption in a Northeast-10 doubleheader that begins at 3:30 p.m., while Saint Anselm hosts UMass Lowell in a Northeast-10 twinbill on Monday afternoon in Manchester, N.H. beginning at 3:00 p.m.