CONWAY, S.C. - Saint Joseph's senior first baseman Ashley Alden went 6-for-8 with two home runs, five RBIs and three runs scored as the Hawks split their opening games at the Coastal Carolina Invitational on Friday. The Hawks opened the day with a dominant 13-0 victory over Mount St. Mary's in five innings, but fell to Loyola-Chicago, 9-5, in game two.
Saint Joseph's (3-4) returns to action Saturday versus Loyola-Chicago at 10 a.m. and will follow with a 3 p.m. matchup against host Coastal Carolina.
In the opener, the Hawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second on a two-run single by catcher Hannah Dionne that scored Nikki Alden and Brandi Harkness.
Saint Joseph's bats blew the game open in the third with an eight-run inning to push the lead to 10-0. Melissa Ruf scored the first run off a fielding error on a double by Brandi Harkness. Harkness would score off a single by Ashley Alden, while Nikki Alden followed by reaching on an error that allowed Sarah Yoos to score.
Both Aldens would come around to score on a double by Isabella Picard to make it 7-0, while a pair of errors plated Dionne and Picard. Nicole Palase capped the inning with a RBI double that scored Madeline Brunck to push SJU's lead to 10-0.
Yoos scored in the fourth on a RBI single by Picard to push the lead to 11-0, while Ashley Alden and Stephanie Chaiser picked up a RBI each in the fifth.
In the circle, rookie Madison Clarke dominated, scattering two hits over five innings and added three strike outs to improve to 2-1 on the season.
At the plate, Palase and Harkness joined Ashley Alden with multiple hits as each went 2-for-4.
In game two, the Hawks fell behind 7-0 early as Loyola-Chicago tallied two runs in the first and five in the second.
Ashley Alden got SJU on the board in the bottom of the fourth with her first home run of the season, a solo blast to right field.
The Ramblers answered with a run in the top of the fifth and sixth to push their lead to 9-1, but the Hawks fought back with three runs in the bottom of the sixth. Yoos reached on a one-out single then was followed by Ashley Alden who smoked her second home run of the game to make it 9-3. One pitch later, sister Nikki Alden deposited a solo home run over the left field wall.
Palase collected her first home run of the year with a solo shot in the bottom of the seventh, but the Hawks couldn't rally for more as they fell 9-5.
Sophomore Niki Carillo was the hard luck loser for game two after allowing five runs over four innings, while striking out two. Junior Anna Lauterbach struck out three over an inning, while Nikki Alden worked the final two scoreless innings.
