Softball Earns Split With Borough Rivals Brooklyn College

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Senior Danielle Marino (Maspeth, NY/Mary Louis) batted 4-for-4 and Andrea Sideli (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) drove in three runs as the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) softball team used a 13-hit outburst to take an 8-6 victory over borough rivals Brooklyn College in the nightcap of a doubleheader on Friday evening at BC Field after dropping the opening game 7-3.

The Lady Bears (10-11-1) still remain within one game of the .500 mark and lost their first game ever to the Bulldogs (17-1-1) in a series that dates back to 2002.

After crossing the 100-hit milestone yesterday, Marino continued to wield a hot bat, hitting 5-for-6 with two RBI, three runs and two doubles.

Sophomore Jackie Perillo (Howard Beach, NY/Archbishop Molloy) batted 3-for-4 in the nightcap, driving a pair of triples and scoring three times, helping her own cause in the circle as she improved to 5-3, allowing six runs (four earned) on 10 hits, while striking out one.

The opener saw the Lady Bears held to just four hits, but scratched two runs in the fourth to knot the game at 3-3 before Brooklyn took the lead for good with a solo run in the bottom half and pulling away with a three spot in the fifth.

St. Joseph's jumped ahead early in the nightcap with three runs in the first. After Brooklyn erased the deficit in the third, the Lady Bears loaded the bases in the fifth and pushed across four runs to move ahead for good. The defense helped preserve the lead with the Bulldogs threatening in their final three at bats.

Turning Points - Game 1

A Marino RBI double in the first inning gave the Lady Bears their lone lead of the game, but the Bulldogs scored solo runs in each of the first three innings to go up 3-1.

St. Joseph's tied the game in the fourth when a Morgan Summers (Bellerose, NY/St. Mary's) RBI single later followed by a Sideli grounder pushed across Marino and Vargas who opened the frame with a walk and single.

But a miscue in the bottom half of the frame allowed an unearned run to score, giving the Bulldogs the lead for good. Another miscue in the fifth allowed two more unearned runs as the deficit balloned to four.

Turning Points - Game 2

A Perillo triple to the wall to open the game set the tone and Millicia Malvasio and Marino followed with singles to rap three straight hits. Sideli later gave St. Joseph's a 3-0 lead with a key two-out, two-run single.

After the Bulldogs tied the game at 3-3, the top of the lineup generated the runs in the fifth as Perillo led off the frame with her second triple of the game, Marino bringing her home with a double. Marino later scored with another two-out RBI from Sideli and a Bulldog throwing error allowed two more runs to score, capping a four-run frame that put the Lady bears on top for good.

The Bulldogs threatened in the bottom of the fifth loading the bases but came away with no runs as Sideli also flashed the glove tracking down a long fly in foul territory to escape the threat.

Brooklyn threatened once again in the sixth loading the bases and bringing the tying run to the plate, but the defense held strong as the inning ended with the runner on third thrown out at home trying to advance on a wild pitch as Marino flipped to Perillo who made a stretch to apply the tag to the runner in time.

With a four-run lead in hand headed to the final frame, Perillo surrendered two unearned runs to the bottom of the lineup, but silenced the top of the order to seal the win. 

Inside the Box Scores

• Mabel Vargas (Ridegewood, NY/Mary Louis) was the only Lady Bear with a multi-hit game in the opener, finishing 2-for-3 with a stolen base and a run. Vargas also took the loss in the circle, allowing seven runs (four earned) and fell to 4-8.
• Sideli was the leading run producer on the night with four RBI. All three of Sideli's RBI in the nightcap came with two outs.
• Marino and Cassandra Molinari (Brooklyn, NY/St. Edmund Prep) were the only Lady Bears to hit successfully in both ends of the twin bill. Molinari finishing with two hits, two runs and a RBI.

News and Notes

• St. Joseph's maintains a 17-1-1 record in the all-time series. The lone tie in the series occurred in 2010.
• Perillo's two triples in the nightcap tied a single-game Lady Bears record, set six times and last accomplished by Kaitlin O'Neill vs. Medgar Evers in 2007.
• Perillo saw her hitting streak snapped in the opener at a team season-longest six games.
• Marino extended her hitting streak to a season-high five games.
• Vargas extended her reached base safely streak to 12 games.

Next Up for the Lady Bears - Purchase

The Lady Bears will try to move above .500 for the first time this season playing the third road doubleheader in as many days facing Purchase College on Saturday, April 20 at 3 p.m.