March 19, 2005

Box Score

GEORGETOWN, DE - Saint Joseph's freshman pitcher Lauren Cognigni made history Saturday morning, throwing only the second perfect game in Hawk History. Cognigni retired 15-consecutive Lafayette batters en route to Saint Joseph's 9-0 win in the second day of play at the Bash at the Beach in Georgetown, Delaware.

Cognigni was dominant over the opening three innings, strinking out four of the first nine Lafayette batters.

In the bottom of the third, Saint Joseph's bats broke open a 0-0 tie. With teammate Megan Richardson at second base, junior Jill Clementi opened the Hawks' barrage with a RBI single to left field. Following a double by senior Alicia Cunic, classmate Cara Deldeo delivered an RBI single to right field. On the next pitch, Cunic would come around to score on a thorwing error by Lafayette's catcher as she tried to throw out Deldeo on a steal. Sophomore Rachel Pawlikowski followed with a RBI sacrfice fly to put the Hawks up 4-0.

Cognigni continued to roll in the top of the fourth, striking out one and forced two easy infield outs on the other two.

Saint Joseph's offense kept it going in the bottom of the fourth, plating five to give the Hawks a 9-0 lead. Sophomore Christa Lane Hooper, Pawlikowski, and senior Lynn Ann Ravert recorded an RBI, while Clementi delivered a two-RBI single.

With her perfect-game bid on the line, Cognigni failed to waver in the top of the fifth. She got Kathryn Longshore to foul out to start the top of the fifth and followd with a strikeout of Amy Gimma. Needing only one out for perfection, Cognigni got Gianna Lopreato to ground out to second base to cap the perfect game.

Cognigni became the first pitcher since Christina Kowalski in 1999, and only the second pitcher in program history, to throw a perfect game. Cognigni recorded six strikeouts over five innings as she retired 15 straight Lafayette batters.

Offensively, Clementi went three-for-three with three RBI and a run scored, while Pawlikowski finished two-for-two with two RBI.

In the nightcap, Saint Peter's jumped out to an early 3-0 lead thanks to two fielding errors by the Hawks.

Both team failed to score over the next six innings as Saint Joseph's entered the bottom of the seventh trailing by three. Following a lead-off single by Katie McCann, Clementi drilled a two-run home run off the scoredboard in left field to bring the Hawks within one, 3-2. Following a Cunic out, Deldeo doubled to the right-center gap. With the tying run in scoring position, Saint Joseph's failed to advance Deldeo as Saint Peter's got Pawlikowski to fly out and Ravert to ground to first base to end the game.

Sophomore Lauren Hughes was the hard-luck loser, allowing only one earned run on six hits, while striking out seven.

With the split, Saint Joseph's moves to 3-8 on the season.

The Hawks will complete the three-day competition at the Bash at the Beach tomorrow in single-elimination competition versus an opponent yet-to-be-named.