Brianna Gunter hit her first home run of the season against Concordia |
Clermont, Fla. (March 5, 2013) – The Stonehill College softball team split a pair of games with Concordia (N.Y.) College and Findlay University Tuesday afternoon at the National Training Center in Clermont Fla.
Stonehill 8, Concordia 2
Staudle's two home runs helps Stonehll capture first win of the season.
Freshman Megan Staudle (New Windsor, N.Y./Cornwall Central) hit two homeruns and tallied three RBIs to lead the Skyhawks. Junior Brianna Gunter (Amherst, N.H./Souhegan) also hit a home run and drove in two runs for Stonehill.
Freshman Megan Ruonavaara (Rocky Hill, Conn./Rocky Hill) earned the first win of her collegiate career, pitching a complete game for the Skyhawks. Ruonavaara yielded five hits and two runs (one earned) while striking out five.
Theresa Magnani (Bethpage, N.Y./Plainedge) was tagged with the loss for Concordia. Magnani gave up eight runs (six earned) on 11 hits and one walk. The sophomore struck out five batters for the Clippers.
Lindsay McKillop (East Meadow, N.Y./East Meadow) helped Stonehill jump out to a first inning lead. After Courtney Marchand (Raymond, N.H./Timberlane Regional) reached on an error and stole second, Kelsey Wilcox (Canterbury, Conn./Griswold) moved Marchand over when she singled. McKillop gave the Skyhawks a 1-0 lead when she singled home Marchand. Staudle extended the lead in the second when she hit a solo home run to make it 2-0.
Concordia cut the lead in half during the bottom of the third. Magnani led off the inning with a solo shot of her own to make it 2-1.
Stonehill answered back in the top of the fourth. With one out in the inning freshman Alison Sumski (Amherst, N.H./Souhegan) singled through the right side. Two batters later Gunter launched her first home run of the season to give the Skyhawks a 4-1 lead.
The Skyhawks would get four more in the top of the sixth. With Cayleigh McCarthy (Norfolk, Mass./King Phillip) on second, Sumski hit an RBI single to center. Staudle then launched her second homer of the game to make it 7-1. The Skyhawks would get another when McKillop notched an RBI single of her own.
Concordia would add a run in the bottom of the sixth, but Ruonavaara would not be denied, registering a 1-2-3 seventh inning to seal the victory.
Nicole Eisenmann hit an RBI double against Findlay |
Findlay 10, Stonehill 8
Home runs from Staudle and McKillop not enough as Findlay outlasts Stonehill.
Emily Reynolds (Wayne, Ohio/Elmwood) led the way for the Oilers, going 3-4 in the game with a home run and four RBIs. Morgan Arnold (Bloomdale, Ohio/Elmwood) chipped in with three RBIs of her own for Findlay.
Staudle hit her third home run of the day and tallied two more RBIs to pace the Skyhawks. McKillop blasted a home run of her own and also registered two RBIs for Stonehill.
Junior Tawna Whited (Madison, Ohio/Madison) went six innings, giving up eight runs (six earned) and earned the win for the Oilers. Whited gave up nine hits and two walks, but struck out six Skyhawks. Brittany Dauterman (Bloomdale, Ohio/Elmwood) pitched the seventh inning for the Oilers and earned the save, retiring all three batters she faced.
Lindsay McKillop belted her first home run of the season in the seventh inning against Findlay |
The Oilers opened the scoring in the second inning. Following a Nicole Motuza (Wickliffe, Ohio/Willoughby South) single, Reynolds belted a home run to give Findlay a 2-0 lead.
After Finlay extended its lead to 4-0, the Skyhawks responded in the bottom of the fourth. Sumski reached on an error by the third baseman leading up to Staudle's third home run of the day. The two-run shot cut Findlay's lead to 4-2.
The Oilers opened the game up when it scored six runs in the fifth. Reynolds made it 6-2 when she hit a two-RBI double. Arnold scored two more Oilers when she followed with a two-RBI double. Tori Allen (Toledo, Ohio/St. Ursula) and Jackie Messersmith (McCutcheonville, Ohio/Mohawk) added RBI singles to give the Oilers an 10-2 advantage.
The Skyhawks refused to go away though, scoring two runs in the bottom of the fifth to cut the lead to 10-4. Stonehill added two more in the sixth to pull even closer. After a single from Staudle, Nicole Eisenmann (East Bridgewater, Mass./East Bridgewater) roped an RBI double. Senior Casey Remick (Norton, Mass./Norton) hit an RBI single to plate Eisenmann and make it 10-4.
Stonehill came within two runs when McKillop hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh, but Dauterman ended hopes of a comeback when she retired the final three batters of the game to close the door.
Next up for the Skyhawks (1-5, 0-0 NE-10) is a double-header with Post University and Felician College tomorrow evening starting at 3:00 pm. The Oilers (2-2, 0-0 GLIAC) will take part in a double-header tomorrow against Hope College and Felician College beginning at 5:00 pm.
For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter and Facebook. Fans can also download the Stonehill Skyhawks mobile app on iTunes and the Android Market.
