Softball Loses Two to Saint Joseph

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College softball team dropped a pair of games to Saint Joseph College in non-conference action at Alumni Field on Wednesday afternoon.

Saint Joseph (14-14 overall) took the first game by a 2-1 final behind a strong pitching performance from Kristina Torres. The Blue Jays then broke out the bats to post an 11-3 victory in six innings in the second game.

Mitchell (7-13 overall) will next play at Becker College on Saturday, April 14 at 1 p.m. Saint Joseph returns to action at home against Lasell College on Friday, April 13 at 3 p.m.

Game 1 – Saint Joseph 2, Mitchell 1

Runs were hard to come by in the opener as Torres and Mitchell senior Marissa Thomas engaged in a pitcher's duel. Torres finished the game with 12 strikeouts and allowed one run on four hits while Thomas yielded two runs (one earned) on eight hits and struck out three.

The Mariners took the lead in the second inning on an RBI single by freshman Dylan Riccardi, but the Blue Jays tied the game in the third when Sarah Miller doubled to left field and later scored on a single by Stephanie Valerio. Saint Joseph pushed across the winning run in the sixth on a ground out by Ashley Stokes that scored Emily Hummel from third base.

Miller, Valerio and Hummel each finished with a pair of hits for the Blue Jays. Torres improved to 7-8 overall on the season.

Game 2 – Saint Joseph 11, Mitchell 3 (6 innings)

Saint Joseph wasted little time getting on the scoreboard as Miller led off the game with a triple and promptly scored on a sacrifice bunt by Valerio. The run was the first of seven the Blue Jays would plate over the first three innings to stake Hummel to a comfortable lead inside the circle.

A four-run second inning gave Saint Joseph a 5-1 advantage. Emma Polinski had an RBI single in the frame while Sarah Cousens added an RBI double and later scored on an error. The Blue Jays then tacked on two more runs in the third on a two-run homer by Stokes, her first of the season.

Hummel tossed 4.1 innings and allowed only one hit before leaving the game with an injury. The one mistake she made came against junior Tiffany Person in the third inning. Person crushed a two-run homer over the left field wall to break up the no-hit bid and pulled Mitchell to within five at 7-2. The long ball was her team-leading second of the season.

The Mariners got another run back in the fifth after Hummel left the game and was replaced by Colleen Ecsedy. Riccardi drew a one-out walk and later scored on a wild pitch to trim the deficit to 7-3.

The Blue Jays answered with a four-run sixth inning and then kept the Mariners off the board in the home half to invoke the eight-run rule. Ashley Gall had a two-run double in the inning while Shauna Sullivan also drove in a run with a single.

Hummel improved to 5-5 overall on the season and allowed three runs on one hit while striking out two. Mitchell sophomore Tricia Tomaselli took the loss and allowed 11 runs (nine earned) on 12 hits in 6.0 innings of work.