April 9, 2008
BRYANT COMES BACK IN BOTTOM OF SEVENTH TO TAKE TWO
FROM STONEHILL WEDNESDAY
Game 1 / Game 2
SMITHFIELD, RI -- The Bryant University softball team stayed
perfect in league play Wednesday night, taking a pair of wins from
Northeast-10 Conference opponent Stonehill College, 5-0 and 8-7 in
an afternoon doubleheader at the Bryant Softball Complex.
Senior Jennifer Serrano (Stoneham,
Mass.) hit her second home run of the year to dead
centerfield to give Bryant (15-7, 12-0 NE-10) a 2-0 lead in
Game One with just one out in the bottom of the fourth inning. An
error put Ali Chouinard (Swansea, Mass.) on first
for junior Kate Thomas (Bedford, NH), who knocked
out her fourth triple of the year -- the first of two in Game One
-- to up the Bulldogs' lead to 3-0.
A Jessica Valentini (Cliffside Park, NJ) single
plated Thomas for a 4-0 advantage as Bryant batted around
before the end of the inning.
The Bulldogs rode the four-run frame to their 14th victory
of the 2008 season, adding one more in the fifth --
an Anne Dobmeier (Buffalo, NY) single that
brought home Thomas -- for a 5-0 Game One final tally over the
visiting Skyhawks (15-9, 7-3).
Senior Janine Enos (Wareham, Mass.) earned the
complete-game shutout in the affair, allowing five hits while
fanning eight to move to 9-3 on the
season. Danielle Mason (6-4) took the loss for
Stonehill, allowing five runs on six hits (four earned) in four
innings of work.
Game Two started out much the same way, as the Bulldogs took
nightcap starter Katie Mottau for four runs in the first.
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the opening frame, junior
Stephanie Mirando (North Haven, Conn.) ripped a
base-clearing double to left field for a 3-1 edge and two out.
Sophomore catcher Ashley Coon (Levittown, Pa.)
brought Mirando home the very next at bat before Stonehill got
itself out of the inning, giving the home side a 4-1 lead after
one.
But this time, the Skyhawks responded.
Bulldog starter Samantha Houseal (Mount Joy,
Pa.), after giving up one unearned run in the first, got
herself into trouble in the top of the second, loading the
bases with one out. Back-to-back hits up the middle from
Stonehill's Jamie Ippolito and Kristen Clark narrowed the gap to
4-3 with powerful designated player Caitlin Flanagan at the plate.
Flanagan took the rookie righthander's offering through the
infield and into shallow left, bringing home two more to reclaim
the lead, 5-4, before Houseal got opposing hurler Katie Mottau to
ground into a doubleplay to end the inning.
Bryant evened it at 5-5 in its half of the third when Coon
singled in Dobmeier, and the Bulldogs climbed on top again in the
fourth when a two-out hit from Valentini scored Chouinard and
Thomas.
The Skyhawks knotted the score once more, 7-7, to open the
sixth, taking Houseal for two more runs off a trio of hits, and
then retired the Bulldogs in order to close out the frame.
Houseal returned the favor in the top of the seventh, and as
darkness set in, the Bulldogs had three more outs to complete the
sweep. But all they needed would be two more batters.
Dobmeier stepped to the plate, taking reliever Jamie Ippolito to
right field for a two-base hit, and on the very next at bat,
Mirando ended the game with a walk-off double of her own, knocking
in Dobmeier to end the game, 8-7.
Houseal (6-4) would get the win on the nightcap, despite
allowing seven runs off 11 Stonehill hits, while Ippolito
(3-1) took the loss.
Bryant returns to the diamond Sunday, April 13 when it travels
to North Andover, Mass. to take on Merrimack College in an
afternoon doubleheader. First pitch is 12:00 p.m.
--
GAME ONE
Score by
Innings
R H E
-----------------------------------------
Stonehill........... 000 000 0
- 0 5 1
Bryant University... 004 010 X - 5 9 1
-----------------------------------------
Win - Enos (9-3). Loss - Mason (6-4). Save - None.
GAME TWO
Score by
Innings R
H E
-----------------------------------------
Stonehill........... 104 002 0
- 7 11 2
Bryant University... 401 200 1 - 8 9 2
-----------------------------------------
Note: None out, 1 runner LOB when the game ended.
Win - Houseal (6-4). Loss - Ippolito (3-1). Save -
None.
