April 21, 2007

Box Score

EAST NORRITON, PA - The Saint Joseph's softball team fell to Rhode Island, 7-6, Saturday afternoon at East Norriton Field.

The Hawks found themselves down 7-5 entering the bottom of the seventh, but sophomore Dani Gonzales led off with a single and would move to third as freshman designated player Alyssa Neilson drilled an infield single to a diving Rhode Island second baseman, causing an errant throw. With runners at second and third, Gonzales brought SJU withint one, 7-6, as she scored on a wild pitch by the Rams' relief pitcher Katie Halcomb.

Unfortunately for the Hawks, they couldn't take advantage of the situation as Halcomb retired the next three Hawk batters to preserve the win for Rhode Island.

Rhode Island jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second as Alyssa Martino fought back from an 0-2 count, connecting on a solo home run to left field off Saint Joseph's junior pitcher Lauren Cognigni.

Saint Joseph's answered in the bottom of the second to take a 3-1 lead. Junior outfielder Kate Falasca (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom) tied the game with a RBI ground out, while sophomore outfielder Kelsey Moir put the Hawks up 3-1 on a two-run single.

The Rams regained the lead in the top of the fourth. Rhode Island took advantage of three Saint Joseph's errors and added four hits of its own as the Rams tallied six runs to take a 7-3 edge.

The Hawks cut the deficit to 7-5 in the bottom of the fifth. Senior third baseman Rachel Pawlikowski scored Gonzales from second on a RBI single, and would come around to score on a passed ball to cut the game to 7-5.

With the loss, the Hawks fall to 5-7 in the Atlantic 10 and 12-20 overall. Rhode Island improves to 8-25 overall and 2-7 in conference play.

Saint Joseph's caps the home portion of its schedule tomorrow, April 22, with a doubleheader versus Massachusetts beginning at noon.