MSMC Blue Knights Run Winning Streak to Five

NEWBURGH – The Mount Saint Mary College Softball team won its fifth straight game and remained unbeaten in conference play on Sunday with a sweep of the College of Mount Saint Vincent. Cindy Connoly earned the win and tripled twice in a 6-1 game one win, while Taylor Canto hit a grand slam and drove in five runs in a 12-2 triumph to finish the sweep.

Game 1: Mount Saint Mary 6 – Mount Saint Vincent 1
Morgan O’Neill got the Knights on the board in the second inning of game one with a double that delivered Emily Lang with the contest’s first run. Lang singled to start the frame and after moving along on a sacrifice, came home on O’Neill’s two –out hit.

The Knights broke open a five run lead with four tallies in the home half of the fourth inning.

The Knights had three hits in the frame, including a two-run double from Amanda Almodovar and a two-run triple off the bat of Connoly.

After Mount Saint Vincent broke through in the sixth with its only run of the game, the Knights spread the lead back to five runs when Canto drew a bases loaded walk with two outs in the inning that delivered Kathryn Eiler to move the Mount in front by the final 6-1 score.

Connoly finished the opener 3-for-3 at the plate with two triples and a pair of RBI, with Lang and O’Neill each producing two hits. Almodovar finished game one with a double, run scored and two RBI. Canto rounded out game one with a hit and RBI for the Knights.

Rachel Heizer and Katie Moos both finished with two hits for the visitors with Moos driving in the team’s lone run and Alanna Alioto-Reyes scoring. Heizer suffered the loss in the circle after allowing five runs on eight hits in 3.2 innings.

Connoly moved to 5-4 on the season in the circle and saw her earned run average fall to 2.57 in her sixth complete game of the year. She struck out four hitters and surrendered a single earned run on five hits in the contest.

Game 2: Mount Saint Mary 12 – Mount Saint Vincent 2
The Knights opened a 4-0 lead early in game two with a pair of runs in each of their first two at-bats. Lang delivered Almodovar with a sacrifice fly to open the scoring before Canto drew her second bases loaded walk of the day to move the Mount in front 2-0.

In the second, Almodovar drove in Lauren Oury with a sacrifice fly to give the Knights a 3-0 lead before Bridget Bennett pushed Courtney Barbara home with an infield single.

The Dolphins pulled to within 4-2 with two runs in the fifth inning, before the Knights put the game away with eight runs in the home half of the inning. The Knights capitalized on four hits and a pair of Mount Saint Vincent errors to end the game early. Almodovar drove in her second run of the game to open the scoring ahead of run scoring base hits from Barbara and Eiler. Canto ended the game with a grand slam in her second plate appearance of the inning.

Mount Saint Mary pounded out 11 hits in game two, with Almodovar, Barbara and O’Neill all finishing with two hits. Barbara, Connoly and Oury all scored two runs in the game, with Canto driving in five runs. Almodovar and Eiler each finished with two RBI with Almodovar swiping her 13th base of the season.

Bennett picked up her third win of the season in the circle with 5.0 strong innings. She allowed two runs on six hits and struck out four.

Sunday’s sweep moves Mount Saint Mary to 9-8 overall on the season and to a perfect 8-0 in Skyline Conference play. Next up for the Knights is a trip to Ramapo on Wednesday. First pitch with the Roadrunners is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.