HACKENSACK, N.J. (April 28, 2024) – The Stonehill College Softball team dropped a Sunday Northeast Conference matinee at FDU in the final game of a three-game weekend series against the Knights.
FDU 9 (19-27, 8-13 NEC), Stonehill 4 (11-32, 2-16 NEC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Stonehill tallied its first run in the top half of the first inning as freshman Harper Sullivan (Glendale, Ariz.) drove in sophomore Natalie Bottiglieri (Massapequa, N.Y.) with an RBI single through the left side of the infield after Bottiglieri led off the game with a double down the left field line.
Sullivan also started the game for the Skyhawks in the circle, throwing a shutout first inning before the Knights tied the score in the second inning with a solo home run to left field from Abbey Hoesman.
Freshman Piper Hofmann (Windermere, Fla.) kept the score tied 1-1 by throwing a runner out heading for home from left field to end the second inning.
Hoesman broke the tie in the bottom of the third with an RBI single followed up by a two-run home run by Ayden Stone the next at-bat as the Knights went up 4-1.
Singles from junior Paige Wodarski (Danvers, Mass.) and Hofmann to begin the fourth set up Bottiglieri for an RBI single on a bunt to drive in Wodarski followed by a double steal from Bottiglieri and Hofmann to bring in another run.
Stonehill tied it up, 4-4, in the top of the fifth thanks to a leadoff single from freshman Haleigh Reed (Mesa, Ariz.) that resulted in her pinch-runner, senior Maeve Proulx (Westford, Mass.) scoring on a sacrifice bunt from Hofmann.
A five-run fifth inning for the Knights broke the tie, highlighted by a two-run home run from Andreya Flores as FDU took a 9-4 lead into the late stages of the game.
The Skyhawks failed to muster up a comeback, going scoreless in the final two innings as the Knights secured the NEC win.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Sullivan started for the Skyhawks, pitching two innings while giving up four hits and one run while junior Skylar Brandemarte (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) fell to 4-14 on the year after giving up five runs in relief.
- Sullivan went 3-4 at the plate with three singles and an RBI while Reed also had a 3-4 day at the plate.
- Sullivan's batting average now sits at a team-high .361, putting her at third-best in the NEC and just three points off the top BA in the conference (.364).
- Bottiglieri had a 5-6 day yesterday and carried her momentum into this afternoon's game, going 2-4 with a double and an RBI.
- Wodarski also went 2-4 in the series finale, her first multi-hit game of the season.
UP NEXT
- Stonehill softball returns to Northeast Conference action tomorrow afternoon for the beginning of a three-game series at Le Moyne as the Skyhawks play one game at 2 p.m.
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