TAMPA, Fla. - The Saint Joseph's softball team topped UMass Lowell, 5-3, and Seton Hall, 3-2, in the Hawks' first games of the Michelle Smith Spring Break Tournament Friday at the University of South Florida.
In game one, Saint Joseph's (12-4) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth on Ashley Alden's team-leading fourth home run of the season. The Hawks' senior drilled a two-out, two-run shot that scored second baseman Sarah Yoos.
UMass Lowell (8-8) answered back with a two-run home run of its own against SJU starter Nikki Alden in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 2-2.
The Hawks regained the lead in the top of the fifth, taking advantage of three hits and a pair of errors to score three times. Left fielder Melissa Ruf doubled with one out and came around to score as UMass Lowell mishandled a single by Nicole Palase to make it 3-2 in favor of SJU.
A two-out single by Yoos scored Palase to make it 4-2, while Yoos came around to score the third run of the inning on a fielding error by the center fielder off a ball smacked by Ashley Alden.
The River Hawks loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth to chase Nikki Alden, but classmate Madison Clarke held the opposition in check. UMass Lowell would tally a run on a fielding error in the fifth, but that would be all it would get as Clarke and the Hawks' defense allowed just one base runner in the final two innings to earn the victory.
At the plate, Alden, Yoos, Palase, Ruf, Brandi Harkness, Hannah Dionne and Isabella Picard combined for SJU's seven hits.
In the circle, Clarke improved to 7-1 as she allowed one hit and struck out two over 2.2 innings of scoreless work. Nikki Alden allowed two earned runs over 4.1 innings while striking out two.
Versus Seton Hall (10-13), the Hawks tallied runs in the bottom of the first and second to open a 2-0 lead.
Picard scored in the bottom of the first on a throwing error off a sharply hit ball by Harkness to the shortstop to make it 1-0, while Madeline Brunck drilled a solo home run with two outs in the second to push the lead to two.
The Pirates struck for a run against SJU's Clarke in the top of the fifth, but the Hawks answered with a run in the bottom of the fifth as Ruf scored on a RBI single by Yoos.
Seton Hall cut SJU's lead to 3-2 in the top of the seventh, but Clarke worked out of a bases loaded jam with two outs to get a ground ball back to her to end the game.
Clarke improved to 8-1 with the win, allowing two runs on eight hits, while striking out two over seven innings. At the plate, Brunk went a team-best 2-for-3 with the home run.
The Hawks return to action Saturday in the second day of play at the Michelle Smith Spring Break Tournament.
