MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. (March 8, 2024) – The Stonehill College softball team split a pair of non-conference games Friday afternoon at R.O.C. Park as part of The Spring Games in Madeira Beach, Fla., falling in the first to Siena College before winning the second game against Columbia.

GAME 1 – Siena 2 (8-5, 0-0 MAAC), Stonehill 1 (1-5, 0-0 NEC)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Sophomore Natalie Bottiglieri (Massapequa, N.Y.) shook the rust off early for the Skyhawks, leading off with a double down the left field line before eventually coming home on a fielder's choice from junior Paige Wodarski (Danvers, Mass.) to make the score 1-0.

Both teams went scoreless through the next three innings as neither team found a runner in scoring position until the top of the fifth inning as the Skyhawks had runners on second and third with two outs but the Saints escaped the inning, forcing a groundout to third.

In the bottom half of the fifth, Siena tied the score at 1-1 after Chloe Cummings hit a triple down the right field line, scoring on a double from Diana Parker as Parker was thrown out trying to stretch her hit to three bases.

Stonehill put runners on second base in the sixth and seventh innings but failed to capitalize with runners in scoring position.

The game went to extra innings after the winning run from the Saints was thrown out going for home as Bottiglieri showed off her arm strength with a laser from center field.

With a runner being placed on second base to start each half-inning in extras, Stonehill failed to bring its potential game-winning run home after a pair of pop-outs. Siena would advance its automatic runner to third on a sac bunt before a single from Isabella Pardo secured the walk-off win for the Saints.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Stonehill is now 0-1 all-time against Siena, a team the Skyhawks will take on two more times this year in a doubleheader for the home opener at Father Gartland Field on Tuesday, March 19.
• Stonehill falls to 0-1 in extra-inning games this season after posting an 0-2 record in such games a season ago.
• Freshman Haleigh Reed (Mesa, Ariz.) and junior Chloe Kelly (East Bridgewater, Mass.) both tallied two base hits in three at-bats while Wodarski went 1-4 with the lone RBI for the Skyhawks.
• Bottiglieri went 1-4 with a run scored and a stolen base, crossing home plate for a team-high sixth time this season.
• Freshman Alexa Hospodar (Old Bethpage, N.Y.) pitched six innings, giving up one earned run and five hits with one strikeout in her second career start.

GAME 2 – Stonehill 2 (2-5, 0-0 NEC), Columbia 1 (1-6, 0-0 Ivy)

HOW IT HAPPENED

After a scoreless first inning, Columbia got on the board in the top half of the second inning, notching back-to-back singles to start the inning before both runners advanced on a passed ball. The lead runner on third would score on a hot shot to the shortstop that was batted down by freshman Caelan Beatty (Oro Valley, Ariz.), holding the second runner on third base and limiting the damage in the inning to just one run for the Lions.

Both teams went down in order in the third inning but the Skyhawk offense produced in the bottom of the fourth, putting two runners in scoring position to set up junior Isabella Therrien (Auburn, Mass.) who connected on a single to left field, bringing Bottiglieri and senior Maeve Proulx (Westford, Mass.) in to score, giving Stonehill a 2-1 lead.

Skyhawk starting pitcher junior Skylar Brandemarte (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) got out of a jam in the sixth as the Lions had runners on second and third with two outs but a flyout to center field secured the lead for Stonehill.

Brandemarte secured the first out of the seventh before Hospodar came in to face the final two batters of the game, earning the save as Stonehill won the low-scoring affair, 2-1.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Stonehill is now 1-0 all-time against Columbia as the Skyhawks picked up their first win over an Ivy League opponent.
• Bottiglieri continued her solid start to the season, going 1-2 with a walk and another run scored to improve her season batting average to .381 out of the leadoff spot.
• Brandemarte earned her second win of the season, improving to 2-2 on the year with a 3.30 ERA in 23.1 innings pitched.
• Therrien notched RBI number three and four on the year, knocking in the lone runs of the game for the Skyhawks.
• Hospodar earned her first career save with back-to-back outs in the seventh after starting game one of the day just hours earlier.

UP NEXT

Stonehill softball continues a five-game weekend in Madeira Beach, Florida with to more non-conference matchups tomorrow at 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. against Manhattan and Colgate.

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