Rayner held the Hawks to six hits and one run in game one

Casey tallied one of the Skyhawks' four hits in game one

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (March 30, 2019) – The Stonehill College softball team fell behind twice to Saint Anselm College in Northeast-10 Conference play with scores of 1-0 and 9-1 in five innings.

Game 1: Stonehill 0 – Saint Anselm 1

For the Skyhawks, Katherine Rayner tossed her sixth complete game in her career, as she gave up six hits and one run while striking out three batters. Saint Anselm's Morgan Perry threw 7.0 innings striking out six and giving up only four hits in her seventh win of the season.

Stonehill's four hits came from Caroline Casey, Julia Hartman, Cassie Holmgren, and Rayner. Abbie Murrell went 3-for-3 at the plate for half of Saint Anselm's six total hits on the day, while Shannon Colson, Maggie Murphy, and Kylie Fitzpatrick tallied one each.

The Hawks threatened in the bottom of the first with two runners reaching on walks, but the Skyhawks held off the attack. In the bottom of the second with one out and runners on first and third, Saint Anselm was able to squeeze across the lone run of the game with a bunt from Fitzpatrick that brought home Murphy.

The Skyhawks were only able to get a runner as far as second base in the game in the top of the third inning as Rayner reached on a single and advanced to second on sacrifice bunt, but the frame was retired with a ground out.

Game 2: Stonehill 1 – Saint Anselm 9 (5 innings)

Michelle Theilgard tallied two of the Skyhawks five hits in the second game swinging 2-for-2 with the lone RBI, one walk, and two doubles. Sophie Perez, Julia Perrone, and Maille Bennett recorded the other three hits for Stonehill.

Theilgard launched two doubles in game two and went 2-for-2 with a walk and a RBI

For the Hawks, Shannon Colson and Murphy went 2-for-3 at the plate, as Colson scored two runs and Murphy recorded a double and an RBI. Kat Stackrow and Lauren Washburn registered two RBI each, while Maddison Leite added in the final RBI for the Hawks.

Saint Anselm scored three runs in the bottom of the first on an error, a wild pitch, and a walk with the bases loaded for a 3-0 advantage. In the top of the third, Theilgard launched her second double of the season scoring Rayner from first to cut the deficit to two, 3-1.

Stonehill was able to fend off the Hawks in the second and third, but Saint Anselm broke open the game in the bottom of the fourth with four runs on four hits for a two-out rally, 7-1. Stonehill stranded two runners on in the top of the fifth, as Saint Anselm scored the final two runs for a five-inning run ruled game, 9-1.

Stonehill (3-13, 0-6 NE10) takes on Saint Anselm College tomorrow, Sunday, March 31 for the final game of the three-game series with a first pitch scheduled for 10:00 a.m. 

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