First-years had strong offensive days for the St. Lawrence University softball team in Clermont, Fla.
Allison Kloft went 3-for-7 with an two RBI and a walk over two games while
Maeve Thompson hit an inside-the-park solo home run to give the Saints their first win of the season, 7-3 over Washington & Jefferson. The Saints then fell in a tight game against Bates 3-2 in the second game of the day.
Game 1: Washington & Jefferson 3, St. Lawrence 7
Washington & Jefferson began game one by scoring in the first after a leadoff single off starting pitcher
Layne Fritz. Later in the inning, the Presidents would load the bases. Sydney Petrowski then worked an RBI walk to give the Presidents a 1-0 lead.
St. Lawrence responded with their most productive offensive inning of the season in the bottom of the first. Leadoff hitter
Vivian Johnson walked, then Kloft doubled through the right side to bring Kloft to third.
Meredith Rose followed that up with the second extra-base hit in a row for the Scarlet and Brown, registering two RBI after bringing home Kloft and Johnson.
Sofia Camilleri then kept the inning alive with a bunt single to move Rose over to third base, and
Izzy Melanson doubled to bring both of them home. That made the score 4-1 Saints after the first inning.
Thompson then tacked on a fifth run in the second, launching a fly ball down the right field foul line. Washington & Jefferson right fielder Aliya Schraeder slid for the ball, but it landed fair and hopped behind her toward the fence. Thompson used her speed to score, making her first career collegiate RBI an inside-the-park round tripper.
With the score at 5-2 and
Izzy Melanson in the game in relief, the game entered a lightning delay in the top of the fifth inning. After the game resumed, Washington & Jefferson found their groove offensively in the top of the sixth. They stuffed the bases with one out after back to back singles, followed by a walk. Deanna Gratton then brought home one run on an RBI groundout to trim the Saints lead to 5-3 heading to the bottom half of the inning.
The Saints then padded their lead in the bottom of the sixth. With two runners on, Alison Kloft smacked a two-RBI double over the head of the Presidents' left fielder. That made the score 7-3 in favor of the Scarlet and Brown.
Melanson then mowed down the side in the top of the seventh to preserve the Saints' lead, giving them their first win of the season 7-3.
Melanson, Kloft and Rose had two RBI each to lead the team in that category, while Kloft and Thompson each had two hits to lead the Saints.
Game 2: St. Lawrence 2, Bates 3
The second game featured strong St. Lawrence defense and a gem of a start from
Sofia Berryhill, who worked well into the game's late innings.
The Saints took advantage of the strong pitching, scoring the first run of the game. It came in the top of the second. Berryhill helped herself out by getting on base with a leadoff single, then
Zola Braswell reached via a single right after, putting runners on first and second.
Olivia Caporale advanced both runners into scoring position on a groundout, then
Caelen Jahnle brought Berryhill home to make it 1-0 Saints.
Bates answered in the second, with first-year Zariya Anderson drilling a solo home run to left field tying the game at one run apiece.
The Saints re-took the lead on an unearned run in the fourth, after Jahnle reached on an error by the second baseman.
Vivian Johnson then brought Jahnle home with an RBI single to make the score 2-1.
That score would hold until the top of the seventh, when Isabel Bettencourt hit a two-run home run to put the Bobcats back on top. That score would hold until the end of the game, as the Saints went three up, three down in the seventh to bring their record to 1-3 on the 2024 campaign.
Next up:
St. Lawrence gets an off day Tuesday, before re-taking the field Wednesday, March 20 in Clermont, Fla. with games against Nazareth and Middlebury. First pitch for the games will be 9 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. respectively.
