Albertus Magnus and Southern Connecticut both stayed alive on Tuesday as their respective conference tournaments got under way.
Albertus Magnus of New Haven defeated St. Joseph’s (CT) by a 3-1 score at home in the first round of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference tournament.
Southern Connecticut, meanwhile, made the trip to New Hampshire to beat Franklin Pierce by a 13-3 score to advance to the next round of the Northeast-10 Tournament.
Here are the game reports courtesy of each school’s athletic communications departments:
(Photo courtesy of Albertus Magnus Athletics.
GNAC Tournament
Albertus Magnus 3, St. Joseph’s (CT) 1
Behind stellar pitching and a big offensive second inning, the Albertus Magnus College softball team won its Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play-in game over the University of Saint Joseph (Conn.), 3-1 on Tuesday afternoon at the Shea Softball Complex.
The Falcons, seeded fourth in the South Division, got stellar pitching from Annabelle Jabs (East Hartland, Conn.), who pitched six innings, giving up just one earned run on four hits and striking out six. Ema Signore put her name in the Albertus Magnus record books, earning her sixth career save as she struck out the side in the top of the seventh. The save made her the all-time leader in Albertus Magnus College history.
At the plate, an RBI double from Amanda Savinelli (New Haven, Conn.) and a two-run triple by Skylar Arent (Ridgefield, Conn.) gave the Falcons enough offensive to secure the win.
Albertus will now face Lasell on the road on Thursday, May 2 at 2 p.m. in the GNAC Tournament in the double elimination portion of the tournament.
Lasell is the the top seed in the South Division.
(Photo courtesy of SCSU Athletics)
Northeast-10 Tournament
Southern Connecticut 13, Franklin Pierce 3
With the win, the Owls will advance to the championship weekend hosted by Adelphi in Garden City, N.Y. to face No. 3-seeded Southern New Hampshire University on Thursday, Mar. 2 at 2:30 p.m.
The Owls exploded for a season-high 13 runs, as well as 14 hits, as they rolled against the home-team Ravens. Dominique DeLutri was 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI while Gabriella Festa and Nadia Cestari (Naugatuck) were both 2-for-4 with doubles and two RBI each. Rachel Miller (Waterford) was 2-for-4 with a RBI and two runs scored while Emily Lange (Monroe/Masuk) also drove in two runs. Jessica Perucki was 2-for-3 with a RBI and also picked up the win on the mound after giving up three runs over six innings.
Franklin Pierce struck first with a run in the bottom of the 3rd inning which was ultimately their only lead of the game. In the top of the 4th, Southern blasted Franklin Pierce for eight runs. DeLutri led off the inning with a single, but was retired on a fielder’s choice by Cestari. Nicole Spinelli (Redding/Joel Barlow) then drew a walk before Samantha LaFemina (East Haddam/Hale-Ray) popped up for the second out of the inning.
With two outs, Spinelli stole second and Lange blasted a two-run single to right field to give the Owls the lead, 2-1. Karley Austin reached on an error that moved Lange to third before she stole second and Perucki walked to load the bases. Festa then delivered a double that scored Lange and Austin before Miller doubled to score Perucki and give the Owls a 4-1 lead. Miller poked another double to plate Perucki before DeLutri drove in Miller and Festa and Miller with a double before scoring on Cestari’s singe as the Owls jumped out to an eight-run lead.
Franklin Pierce looked to get back in the game with a two-run homer in the bottom of the 4th that cut Southern’s lead to 8-3. It was the Ravens’ final runs of the day as the Owls tacked on another five runs in the 6th. Miller singled to lead off the inning before DeLutri followed with a hit. Cestari connected for a double to score Miller and then Spinelli’s base hit scored DeLutri. Austin added a RBI single to score Cestari before Perucki’s sacrifice fly drove in Spinelli and LaFemina scored on a wild pitch. The game was called due to Mercy Rule after the bottom of the 6th.
Southern improved to 18-23 on the year and 24-16 all-time in the NE10 Tournament. Southern and SNHU last faced each other on Apr. 13 with the Penmen taking both ends of the doubleheader.
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