May 11, 2013

Box Score

AMHERST, Mass - Jumping out to an early lead and relying on the pitching of freshman Liz Mendez, the Saint Joseph's softball team forced a decisive second game of the Atlantic 10 Championship as the Hawks topped Fordham, 7-1.

Second and final game set for a 12:15 p.m. first pitch.

In game one, the Hawks jumped on the Rams from the start as they quickly loaded the bases with no outs. Senior Dana Parks led off with a single and would get to third on a double by Melissa Ruf. Following a walk to Nicole Palase, redshirt senior Monica Aguilar drilled a grand slam over the left field wall to put Saint Joseph's up 4-0.

Sacrifice fly to left field by Chelsea Palumbo scored Brianna Ciuffi.

Saint Joseph's would add some insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth courtesy of junior Morgan Earling. Following a squeeze play at the plate that had SJU's Sarah Yoos tagged out on the play, Earling delivered with the Hawks second home run of the day. With runners at first and second, Earling homered to left center to give Saint Joseph's a 7-1 lead.

Individually, Mendez, picked up her third win of the postseason, throwing the complete-game victory to improve to 11-5 overall. Parks was the lone Hawk to collect multiple hits, going 2-for-4.