Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 Vivian Johnson had three hits on her senior day, and
Allison Kloft added three hits of her own, but the St. Lawrence University softball team was swept in a doubleheader against the Rensselaer Engineers Saturday at Saints Softball Field, concluding their conference season.
The Saints move to 19-15 on the season with a 5-9 Liberty League record. Despite getting swept, the Saints punched their ticket to the Liberty League playoffs as the five-seed after Union and Skidmore were both eliminated with losses today.
After the doubleheaders ended, the Saints honored their four members of the Class of 2025,
Sofia Berryhill,
Stella VanGee,
Sofia Camillieri, and
Vivian Johnson with a ceremony on the field.
"It was a wonderful day celebrating our four very special seniors. Our hearts are very full," said head coach
Rosie Phillips. "We are fortunate that our road doesn't end here, and we'll have the opportunity to survive and advance to the conference tournament next week."
In a pitching duel in game one, the matchup headed into extras tied at 0, but RPI eventually won 1-0 after 10 innings. The offense for both sides was prolific in game two, but a strong first two innings from the Engineers got them the 13-7 victory.
Leah VerSchneider and
Marina Juan also doubled on the day, and pitcher
Izzy Melanson threw all 10 innings of game one, allowing 10 hits, no earned runs, and only one walk.
Game 1: St. Lawrence 0, RPI 1 (10 innings)
The game was a pitcher's duel early. The Saints got a leadoff single from
Vivian Johnson in the first, but Engineers' starter Ava Markert retired the next nine hitters. RPI was able to get runners on against Melanson in each of the first four innings, but the sophomore hurler left them all out on the bases, getting some help from
Marina Juan in right field who through out a runner trying to score from second on a single in the top of the third.
In the bottom of the fourth,
Caelen Jahnle,
Marina Juan, and
Stella VanGee all had singles in the inning to load the bases with two outs. However, a foul pop-up to first ended the inning with three Saints stranded.
In the sixth, Melanson ran into trouble as the first two Engineers got one with singles, but she escaped the jam after a strikeout, a popup, and a groundball to second.
St. Lawrence repeated what RPI did in the bottom half of the inning by getting two runners on with nobody out. Jahnle drew a walk, then Kloft singled through the right side, but Gaby Heim for the Engineers got three straight outs to maintain the scoreless tie.
Leah VerSchneider had a one-out double in the bottom of the seventh, but the Saints couldn't move her over, and the game headed into extras with both teams still looking for their first run.
Both teams went six up, six down in their halves of the eighth and ninth innings, and we headed into the tenth with a 0-0 tie.
The Engineers started the 10th inning with a free runner on second thanks to the International Softball Rule that begins at the 10th inning. They wasted no time moving this runner to third with a sacrifice bunt. The next batter, Evann McDonnell, was able to drive a high flyball to deep center field. Jahnle made the catch, but the runner on third tagged up to score the game's first run.
In the Saints' half of the tenth, VerSchneider grounded out to move Camillieri to third with one away, but Markert, who reentered to pitch after throwing the first four innings of the game, get a strikeout and a groundout to second to end the game with the Saints getting shutout for just the second time this season.
Game 2: St. Lawrence 7, Rochester 13
RPI got the bats going early in the first inning of game two, scoring four runs in the opening inning off of four hits, a walk, and an error, and the Saints trailed 4-0 early.
The Saints got some action on the bases with one out in the bottom of the first. Jahnle drew a walk, stole second, and then
Allison Kloft delivered with a double to the wall, scoring the first run of the day for the Saints. Kloft later came into score in the inning after Juan walked and got into a rundown, and the Scarlet and Brown cut the Engineers' lead in half by scoring two in the inning.
RPI was productive once again in the second, scoring five more runs and sending all nine batters to the plate for the second straight inning, growing their lead to 9-2.
The Engineers added one more in the third, but the Saints did some damage in the bottom of the fifth. Camillieri reached on a dropped popup,
Marleigh Monroe singled, Johnson drove in one with a single into center, and then Kloft sent two home with another single. The three runs prevented St. Lawrence from getting mercy ruled as the contest headed into the sixth with the home team trailing 10-5.
Despite this, the Engineers put together another solid inning offensively in the sixth, sending another two runners across the plate.
However, the Saints responded with two more in the bottom of the sixth after an RBI single from Thompson and then
Emily Wendt stole home after Camillieri districted the RPI infield by getting into a rundown, getting the game back to within five, 12-7.
The Engineers added another run in the seventh, and the Saints went quiet in the bottom of the seventh, ending the game 13-7.
Up Next:
St. Lawrence will have two more regular-season non-conference games hosting the SUNY Canton Kangaroos tomorrow, May 4 with game one scheduled to begin at noon. The Saints will then have a rematch with the Engineers on Thursday, May 8 in the Liberty League play-in game between the fourth-seeded Engineers and the fifth-seeded Saints.
