March 16: First-year
Kelsey Murphy laced a double into the gap in right center in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the Saints (2-4) a 3-1 lead against Western New England in their second game on Monday afternoon. St. Lawrence edged the Golden Bears 3-2 for the second time in three days after dropping the morning contest, 4-3, to Lancaster Bible College. Four of the teams six games so far have been decided by one run.
"I'm really proud of our effort today," VanKirk added. "We're getting production across the board and I can't ask for more than that." Â
Murphy finished the afternoon with four RBI – two in each game – as she drove in a pair of runs in the first inning against Lancaster Bible to give the Saints a 3-0 lead. Fellow first year
Kylee Knight scored the other St. Lawrence run following an infield hit by
Emma Reakes. Reakes reached on a fielder's choice as Lancaster tried to make a play at the play but Knight's speed helped her beat the throw.
The 3-0 lead held until the top of the sixth inning when the Chargers put four across with the help of two walks, a fielder's choice and a costly two-base error that allowed a Lancaster batter to advance to third on a single to the outfield.
Emma Gailey struck out nine in the loss for St. Lawrence.
"We've been in every game since we've been here and today was no different," Head Coach
Elisa VanKirk said, "We jumped out to an early lead against Lancaster, but they did a great job putting pressure on us late and stealing the win. They've come a long way in just two seasons."
Against Western New England, senior
Brady Cooper led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a slap single to right field and moved to second on a sac bunt by classmate
Aisha O'Connor. With one out,
Emma Reakes stepped to the plate and drove a single through the middle of the infield and into center where the fielder dropped the transfer, allowing Reakes to move to second and Cooper to score the tying run.
Laura Finley pushed Reakes to third with an infield single and Murphy drove both her classmates home for help the Saints take the lead.
In the top of the seventh, the Saints escaped a bases load, no out jam thanks in large part to a double play start by
Aisha O'Connor at short. She made a great diving play to snag a line drive that was its way to left field and then flipped the ball to Murphy at third to pick off the Western runner who had taken off for home.
The game ended when a Golden Bears runner was called out after she was hit by a batted ball while running to third.
Kyle Plimpton earned the win for St. Lawrence, striking out nine to bring her total to 42 for six appearances so far this season. She has both of the team's wins thus far.
The Saints will continue their spring schedule on Wednesday with games against Trinity (9 am) and Framingham State (11 am).Â
