Senior Sarah Ropiak pitched 6.2 innings of one run ball to earn the win today for the Skyhawks. |
Skyhawks fall to Panthers, 2-1, before beating the Raiders, 4-1
CLERMONT, Fla. (March 6, 2016) – The Stonehill College softball team returned to action today at the Dot Richardson Spring Games in Clermont, Florida, splitting a pair of games with Ohio Dominican University and Shippensburg University. Stonehill fell to Ohio Dominican in eight innings in the opener, 2-1, before posting a 4-1 win over Shippensburg in the second contest.
Junior first baseman/pitcher Michelle Carbone (Deer Park, New York/St. Anthony's) led the Skyhawks offensively, going 3-for-6 with a double, two RBI and a run. Senior Megan Ruonavaara (Rocky Hill, Connecticut/Rocky Hill) went 1-for-2 with a homerun and two RBI, while classmate Lauren Esposito (Middlefield, Connecticut/Coginchaug) chipped in with two hits, a double and two runs.
Ohio Dominican 2, Stonehill 1
Stonehill opened the scoring in the bottom of the fourth inning when Esposito led off the inning with a single and senior Alison Sumski (Amherst, New Hampshire/Souhegan) drove her in with a RBI double. The Panthers tied the game up in the sixth inning when sophomore Liz Sutter (Mansfield, Ohio/Mansfield Madison) hit an infield single to start the inning. After Carbone coaxed the next two batters into groundouts, junior Casey Murdoch (Morrow, Ohio/Kings) laced a double to score Sutter from first.
Senior Megan Ruonavaara launched a homerun and earned her first career save in game two of the doubleheader. |
Looking to take back the lead, freshman Taylor Whaley (South Portland, Maine/Catherine McAuley) led off the bottom half of the sixth inning reaching first base on an error, while Esposito followed that up with a double. The Skyhawks looked poised to recapture the lead with two baserunners on and no outs, but were unsuccessful in driving any of them in, popping up for the first out before hitting into a double play to end the inning. Ohio Dominican scored the tie breaking run in the eighth inning to earn the victory.
Stonehill 4, Shippensburg 1
Senior Sarah Ropiak (Acton, Massachusetts/Acton-Boxborough) helped the Skyhawks earn their first win of the season, pitching 6.2 innings while giving up one unearned run on five hits to go with five strikeouts. Senior Taylor Pattillo (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania/Chambersburg Area) accounted for two of Shippensburg's five hits as the Raiders dropped to 4-8 this season.
Stonehill jumped out to an early 2-0 lead off of Ruonavaara's two-run homerun, her first of the year. The Skyhawks plated two more runs the very next inning, when Esposito and sophomore Olivia Peterson (Westford, Massachusetts/Westford Academy) came around to score on a double by Carbone. Shippensburg got on the board in the seventh inning when sophomore Macy Luck (Centreville, Virginia/Centreville) reached first base on an error and classmate Tara Bicko (Johnstown, Pennsylvania/Greater Johnstown) knocked her in on a fielder's choice. Ruonavaara relieved Ropiak for the final out of the game to give the senior her first save of her career.
Stonehill (1-3, 0-0 NE-10) is slated for a doubleheader tomorrow starting at 1:15 p.m. when they take on American International College, before closing the day out against Florida Institute of Technology at 3:15 p.m.
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