April 17, 2012

Box Score

VILLANOVA - The Saint Joseph's softball team capped the non-conference portion of its schedule with a 5-3 victory at Villanova on Tuesday afternoon. Freshman Nicole Palase drove in three runs, while senior Erin Gallagher picked up the win for the Hawks.

Saint Joseph's (16-22) opened the scoring in the top of the fifth thanks to a two-out triple down the right field line by Palase cleared the bases, scoring Dana Parks, Bernadette Moran and Maria Ficca.

The Hawks added a pair of runs in the sixth, to open up a 5-0 gap. Parks came through with a two-run single that scored pinch runner Traneya White from second. After advancing to second on the throw to the plate, Parks would come around to score on the next play as the Villanova left fielder misplayed a hit by Melissa Ruf.

Villanova rallied in the bottom of the seventh as Valerie Ortega scored the first Wildcat run on a wild pitch by SJU's Taryn Ashway. Molly Manning made it a 5-2 game with a RBI double, then scored on a RBI single by Amanda Marquez to make it 5-3.

Gallagher would come in to close the door though, getting the final two outs to earn the win for her team.

Allowing one hit, while striking out three over 5.2 innings, Gallagher moved into second place all-time in career wins at SJU with 61 and 7-11 on the year

At the plate, Parks and Palase each went 3-for-4 with Parks scoring twice and driving in one, while Palase added three RBI. Moran and sophomore Morgan Earling each added two hits a piece.

The Hawks return to action Friday at Massachusetts. Game time is set for 3 p.m.