May. 1, 2005

Box Score

EAST NORRITON, PA - Knowing that it had to sweep its series versus St. Bonaventure or the season was over, the Saint Joseph's softball team answered the call as the Hawks earned 2-1 and 7-1 victories to claim a spot in the Atlantic 10 Championship.

Saint Joseph's improved to 8-6 in A-10 play and moved ahead of Dayton (8-8) to clinch the fourth and final postseason berth for the A-10 Championship May 12-14 at the University of Rhode Island. The Hawks first-round opponent is yet to be determined as Saint Joseph's could move into third place.

The opener featured a pitching duel between Saint Joseph's freshman Lauren Cognigni and the Bonnies Christine Keleher as both pitchers allowed no runs over the opening two innings at East Norriton Field.

Following a scoreless top of the third, the Hawks took a 1-0 in the bottom half. Sophomore outfielder Christa Lane Hooper led off with a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by senior Megan Richardson. Following a line out, Hooper would come around to score on a RBI single by junior Jill Clementi.

St. Bonaventure didn't trail for long as Ashley Bonetto led off with a solo home run to right field to tie the score at one.

With the Hawks' postseason in the balance, senior shortstop Cara Deldeo led off the bottom of the sixth with a solo home run to right field to put Saint Joseph's up 2-1.

Cognigni would shut the door on the Bonnies in the top of the seventh as she set St. Bonaventure down in order to preserve the win for the Hawks. Cognigni improved to 13-9 overall with the victory as she allowed one run on five hits, while striking out four.

Despite the victory in game one, Saint Joseph's still needed to the second game to assure a postseason berth.

Game two didn't start out as planned for the Hawks as the Bonnies took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a RBI single by Kristin Brunetto.

The Hawks would rally and take a 2-1 edge in the bottom of the first as Clementi and senior catcher Alicia Cunic collected RBIs.

Saint Joseph's opened up a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the third as Cunic drilled a two-run home run to left field.

The Hawks added three more insurance runs in the bottom of the fourth as sophomore pitcher Lauren Hughes was in control on the mound. Hughes allowed one run on five hits, while striking out one to improve to 8-10 on the year.

On the day, Cunic went three-for-six at the plate with four RBI, while Clementi finished four-of-seven with two RBI and two runs scored.

With the sweep, the Hawks moved over the .500 mark for the first time this season as they improved to 21-19 overall. St. Bonaventure falls to 12-21 overall and 8-4 in the A-10 with the losses.

Saint Joseph's will have a week to rest before it hosts Lehigh on May 9 in the Hawks regular-season finale. Game one is scheduled for 3 p.m.