March 18: First-year
Emma Reakes hit two home runs – one in each game – to help the Saints to wins over Trinity College and Framingham State on Wednesday morning in Clermont, Fl. The Saints are now 4-4 with four games remaining for their spring training trip.
"We're getting better every day," Head Coach
Elisa VanKirk said. ""Our first-years stepped up with some big hits when we needed them, but we got production all through the lineup today."
The Saints beat Trinity 7-1 in the morning game thanks to a two-out rally in the bottom of the third inning which started with three consecutive extra-base hits, including Reakes' first collegiate home run and the team's first of the season. Senior pitcher
Kyle Plimpton struck out 10 in the win.
Kylee Knight started the rally in the bottom of the third with a triple to right field that scored
Carly Dziekan who led off the inning with a bunt single.
Laura Finley followed with an RBI double to left and Reakes stepped to the plate and laced a line-drive home run to right field that bounced off the top of the fence and over to put the Saints in front 4-0.
Dziekan led off the fifth with a single up the middle and later scored on a throwing error by the Trinity pitcher after
Aisha O'Connor hit a slow roller back to the mound. O'Connor advanced to second and Dziekan came across for the Saints fifth run.
They increased their lead to 7-1 in the bottom of the sixth getting RBIs from Finley on ground out that plated O'Connor and Reakes on a single up the middle that scored Knight.
The Saints completed the sweep with an 8-5 win against the Rams in game two. They jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the top of the second inning with another two-out rally that started with an error on the Framingham short stop that allowed
Kylee Knight to reach first and scored
Jacqueline Dufour for the first run of the game. All of the following runs scored by Knight, Dziekan,
Brady Cooper, O'Connor and Finley were unearned.
In the top of the fourth, the Saints pushed the lead to 8-1 with Reakes' second home run of the morning; a two-run shot that scored Finley, who had doubled to center to get things started for St. Lawrence.
Framingham added four runs in the bottom half of the frame to cut the Saints' lead to 8-5, but that was as close as they would come.
The Saints will face two tough opponents in Luther and SUNY Geneseo tomorrow evening at 5:00 and 7:00 p.m., respectively, at the NTC complex in Clermont.
