Pitching Leads to Sweep at St. Joseph’s-L.I.

PATCHOGUE – The Mount Saint Mary Softball team used a pair of strong pitching performances on Sunday to earn a Skyline Conference sweep on the road at St. Joseph’s-L.I. Junior Cindy Connoly won her ninth game of the season in game one, while freshman Bridget Bennett won her team leading 10th game of the season in game two.

Game 1: Mount Saint Mary 3 – St. Joseph’s-L.I. 1

Connoly did not allow a hit until the seventh inning in game one and after a runner was caught stealing in the first had faced the minimum until a Kathryn Kamalic single to lead off the Golden Eagles’ final at-bat. She later crossed with the team’s only run on a Lyndsay Smocer single with two outs in the inning.

The Knights built a three run lead in the game with a tally in the third and two more in the fifth. Following a walk to Shannon Sommer to lead of the third, Connoly delivered Sommer with the game’s first run with a two-out RBI single to open the scoring.

The lead increased by two runs in the fifth when the Knights took advantage of a pair of hits and a St. Joseph’s-L.I. error. Sommer and Amanda Almodovar singled to start the frame, with Sommer scoring on a sacrifice fly and Almodovar crossing when Kathryn Eiler reached on a miscue.

Sommer and Almodovar each finished the opener with two hits with Sommer scoring once and Almodovar adding one run scored. Connoly finished 1-for-1 at the plate with two walks and two RBI for the Knights.

In the circle, Connoly moved to 9-7 with her 16th complete game of the season. She allowed only one run on two hits, while striking out eight. Connoly walked one in the game and now stands with 135 strikeouts on the season against just 12 walks.

Game 2: Mount Saint Mary 4 – St. Joseph’s-L.I. 1

The Knights struck early in game two, plating a pair of runs in their first at-bat. Sommer led off the game with a single and advanced to third on a two-base error before crossing on a sacrifice fly from Almodovar. Michelle Surdan followed with a walk and was chased home by a Connoly triple to give the Knights an early 2-0 lead.

The Golden Eagles cut the deficit in half in the home half of the second and put the tying run on second with two outs, but could not find the equalizer. The Golden Eagles would get a runner to third three times in the game following the second, but could not scratch out another run.

The Knights plated their third run of the game in the fourth when Breanna DePasquale drove in Bennett with a single and added an insurance run in the fifth when Eiler delivered Surdan with a two-out, run scoring base hit.

Sommer picked up two more hits in the game, going 2-for-4 with a run, with Surdan tripling and scoring a pair of runs. Connoly and Eiler both finished the game two win with a base hit and a run batted in for the Knights.

Bennett won her second straight decision in game two with her ninth complete game of the season. She improved to 10-4 on the year, allowing a run on eight hits and striking out four.

Sunday’s sweep pushes Mount Saint Mary to 21-12 overall on the season and to 14-1 against Skyline Conference opponents.

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