BRYANT COMES BACK IN BOTTOM OF SEVENTH TO TAKE TWO FROM STONEHILL WEDNESDAY
April 9, 2008
BRYANT COMES BACK IN BOTTOM OF SEVENTH TO TAKE TWO FROM STONEHILL WEDNESDAY
SMITHFIELD, RI -- The Bryant University softball team stayed perfect in league play Wednesday night, taking a pair of wins from Northeast-10 Conference opponent Stonehill College, 5-0 and 8-7 in an afternoon doubleheader at the Bryant Softball Complex.
Senior Jennifer Serrano (Stoneham, Mass.) hit her second home run of the year to dead centerfield to give Bryant (15-7, 12-0 NE-10) a 2-0 lead in Game One with just one out in the bottom of the fourth inning. An error put Ali Chouinard (Swansea, Mass.) on first for junior Kate Thomas (Bedford, NH), who knocked out her fourth triple of the year -- the first of two in Game One -- to up the Bulldogs' lead to 3-0.
A Jessica Valentini (Cliffside Park, NJ) single plated Thomas for a 4-0 advantage as Bryant batted around before the end of the inning.
The Bulldogs rode the four-run frame to their 14th victory of the 2008 season, adding one more in the fifth -- an Anne Dobmeier (Buffalo, NY) single that brought home Thomas -- for a 5-0 Game One final tally over the visiting Skyhawks (15-9, 7-3).
Senior Janine Enos (Wareham, Mass.) earned the complete-game shutout in the affair, allowing five hits while fanning eight to move to 9-3 on the season. Danielle Mason (6-4) took the loss for Stonehill, allowing five runs on six hits (four earned) in four innings of work.
Game Two started out much the same way, as the Bulldogs took nightcap starter Katie Mottau for four runs in the first.
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the opening frame, junior Stephanie Mirando (North Haven, Conn.) ripped a base-clearing double to left field for a 3-1 edge and two out. Sophomore catcher Ashley Coon (Levittown, Pa.) brought Mirando home the very next at bat before Stonehill got itself out of the inning, giving the home side a 4-1 lead after one.
But this time, the Skyhawks responded.
Bulldog starter Samantha Houseal (Mount Joy, Pa.), after giving up one unearned run in the first, got herself into trouble in the top of the second, loading the bases with one out. Back-to-back hits up the middle from Stonehill's Jamie Ippolito and Kristen Clark narrowed the gap to 4-3 with powerful designated player Caitlin Flanagan at the plate.
Flanagan took the rookie righthander's offering through the infield and into shallow left, bringing home two more to reclaim the lead, 5-4, before Houseal got opposing hurler Katie Mottau to ground into a doubleplay to end the inning.
Bryant evened it at 5-5 in its half of the third when Coon singled in Dobmeier, and the Bulldogs climbed on top again in the fourth when a two-out hit from Valentini scored Chouinard and Thomas.
The Skyhawks knotted the score once more, 7-7, to open the sixth, taking Houseal for two more runs off a trio of hits, and then retired the Bulldogs in order to close out the frame.
Houseal returned the favor in the top of the seventh, and as darkness set in, the Bulldogs had three more outs to complete the sweep. But all they needed would be two more batters.
Dobmeier stepped to the plate, taking reliever Jamie Ippolito to right field for a two-base hit, and on the very next at bat, Mirando ended the game with a walk-off double of her own, knocking in Dobmeier to end the game, 8-7.
Houseal (6-4) would get the win on the nightcap, despite allowing seven runs off 11 Stonehill hits, while Ippolito (3-1) took the loss.
Bryant returns to the diamond Sunday, April 13 when it travels to North Andover, Mass. to take on Merrimack College in an afternoon doubleheader. First pitch is 12:00 p.m.
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GAME ONE
Score by
Innings
R H E
-----------------------------------------
Stonehill........... 000 000 0
- 0 5 1
Bryant University... 004 010 X - 5 9 1
-----------------------------------------
Win - Enos (9-3). Loss - Mason (6-4). Save - None.
GAME TWO
Score by
Innings R
H E
-----------------------------------------
Stonehill........... 104 002 0
- 7 11 2
Bryant University... 401 200 1 - 8 9 2
-----------------------------------------
Note: None out, 1 runner LOB when the game ended.
Win - Houseal (6-4). Loss - Ippolito (3-1). Save -
None.