Emmitsburg, Md. (March 18, 2023)–Mount St. Mary’s split a pair of games in its home tournament Saturday at Our Lady of the Meadows Field on campus. The Mount opened the day with a 5-2 win over UAlbany before falling to Lafayette, 4-2, in the second game of the day.
MOUNT ST. MARIA 5, UALBANY 2
Abigail Perry hit a home run in the bottom of the fifth inning to spark the Mount to a 5-2 victory over UAlbany in the first game of the day. The Mount trailed 2-1 midway through the game before rallying for the win. Maggie Kane and Tori Bowles each had two hits in the win.
The Great Danes (4-8) took the lead with an unearned run in the top of the first inning. Mount was able to tie the score with a run in the bottom of the second. Kassidy Johnson hit a pitch with one out, and she came around the bases on Bowles’ double to tie the game at 1-1.
After UAlbany’s Morgan Petty singled to right-center field in the top of the fourth to put the Great Danes back in front, Mount was able to plate a run in the bottom of the inning to tie the score again. Kaia Bonshock she doubled to lead off the inning, moved to third on Johnson’s groundout, and scored on a wild pitch.
Perry put the Mount on top with a two-out solo home run in the bottom of the fifth. Her drive down the left field line stayed fair to give Mount a 3-2 lead. Mount St. Mary’s (9-12) got a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. Mount had runners on second and third with one out after a pair of UAlbany errors. Julia Vincent he followed with a perfectly placed squeeze bunt for an RBI single to make it 4-2, and Bowles added to the lead with an RBI single.
Avery Neuhart improved to 3-2 on the season with a complete-game effort. The graduate student allowed one earned run in seven innings of work, allowing five hits while striking out three. Kane finished the game 2-for-2 at the plate while Bowles was 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI.
LAFAYETTE 4, MOUNT ST. MARY’S 2
Lafayette scored four times in the top of the sixth inning and held on for a 4-2 win over Mount in the second game of the day.
The game began as a pitching duel between the Mounts Maddie Coleman and Lafayette’s Kailee Sawai as there was just one hit combined between the two teams through the first five innings. Lafayette’s Harlie Bickett opened the game with a hit, but was later struck out on a caught stealing. From there, the Mount’s Coleman was in charge, retiring the Leopards to carry the next four innings without a hit into the top of the sixth.
Megan Coyle led off the sixth with a single up the middle to break up Coleman’s no-hit bid. After a strikeout, Grace Hausamann moved pinch runner Jasmine Nguyen to second with a sacrifice bunt. Bickett then lined a ball over the fence in left field to plate Nguyen with the first run of the game. The throw to second from the outfield went over the second baseman’s head and all the way to right field, allowing Bickett to come all the way home for a 2-0 lead. Kylie Sweet was then hit by a pitch that ended Coleman’s day in the circle. Paige Sandidge then saluted the reliever Olivia Murphy with a two-run homer to make it 4-0.
The Mount finally reached starter Lafayette Sawai in the bottom of the sixth. Sawai allowed a single Abigail Perry in the bottom of the first, but didn’t allow a hit over the next four innings to lead one batter into the bottom of the sixth. With two outs and nobody on base, Perry drew a walk and moved to second on a Maggie Kane base hit. Kaia Bonshock followed by a single to right-center field to plate Perry. The throw went to the backstop, but the Leopards were able to recover and get Kane at the plate to end the inning.
The Mountaineers rallied in the bottom of the seventh, but were unable to complete the comeback. Bowles doubled to open the frame and pinch runner Zoe Truxon moved to third place on a Mariah Godde base hit. Vanessa Martin then he reached on an error by Lafayette’s second baseman to bring home Truxon to make it 4-2. Lafayette brought in reliever Morrigan Gardiner, and with two outs, Julia Vincent they reached on an infield from one to third base that loaded the bases for Perry. Gardiner was able to retire Perry to right field to earn the save.
Coleman struck out eight while allowing three runs and four hits in 5.2 innings. Murphy allowed one run in 1.2 innings of relief.
NEXT: The Mount Softball tournament ends tomorrow with three more games. The games have been pushed back one hour, with UAlbany and Lafayette kicking off the day at 11:00. The Mount will host UAlbany at 1:00 p.m., and close out the day against Lafayette at 3:00 p.m.
