Softball Swept by USCAA foe Ave Maria in Florida

AVE MARIA, Fla. – The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) continued its Florida swing with a pair of losses to Ave Maria University, falling 23-1 in game one before dropping a 12-4 decision in the nightcap on Wednesday afternoon at AMU Softball Field.

St. Joseph's (0-4) remains winless on the season, while Ave Maria (18-16) has now won 10 of their last 12 games.

The opener saw the Lady Bears struggle right from the start as the Lady Gyrenes jumped out an early 7-0 lead after the first inning, helped by seven hits in the frame. St. Joseph's could not recover as the Lady Bears bats were held in check by Kayla Sterling who went the full five innings, allowing only one hit to freshman Samantha Rossi (Bayside, N.Y./Mary Louis) in the first inning and fanned ten.

Ave Maria had no trouble with St. Joseph's pitching as they finished with 20 hits and had two eight-run innings. The Lady Bears avoided the shutout with a run in the fourth on a fielder's choice by junior Briana Robles (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney).

Junior Jackie Perillo (Howard Beach, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) took the loss in game one, surrendering 15 runs (11 earned) on 15 hits in three innings and falls to 0-2 on the year.

The nightcap saw a much better effort from St. Joseph's, but the Lady Gyrenes once again proved to be too talented for the Lady Bears to overcome. Ave Maria jumped out to a 3-0 lead after two innings of play before St. Joseph's got on the board with a Cassandra Molinari (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) single up the middle. The junior finished the game going 3-for-3 at the dish and threw out a runner at second.

The Lady Gyrenes put up a four spot in the bottom of the fourth to take 7-1 lead. However, the Lady Bears responded with their most productive inning of the season in the fifth as they scored three runs, all coming on an RBI double by freshman Kristin Ferrigno (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) that cut the Ave Maria lead to 7-4 and gave St. Joseph's some hope. The Lady Gyrenes ended that hope with five runs in the fifth and earned the victory via the eight-run rule.

Freshman Jamilynn McGowan (Staten Island, N.Y./Michael J. Petrides) was hit with the loss in the nightcap, pitching 3 2/3 innings, allowing seven runs (four earned) on eight hits to drop to 0-2.

Molinari finished the day going 3-for-5 with a run scored, while Ferrigno concluded the afternoon by going 1-for-4. Perillo went 1-for-5 at the dish with a run scored and Rossi hit 1-for-4 with two runs scored.

TURNING POINT – GAME ONE

After getting around a single by Rossi in the top half of the first, Ave Maria responded by sending 12 batters to the plate with seven of them coming around to score to take a 7-0 lead which they would continue to add on to, while holding the Lady Bears hitless.

TURNING POINT – GAME TWO

The Lady Gyrenes built a 3-0 lead after two innings before St. Joseph's produced a run in the third to make it 3-1 and it looked like the Lady Bears may be able to stay in the game. Ave Maria had other plans as they scored four runs in the fourth and five runs in the fifth which proved too much for St. Joseph's to withstand, despite three runs of their own in the top of the fifth.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORES

• Freshman Kristen Candelaria made her first collegiate appearance in the circle in game one, pitching one inning in relief of Perillo.
• Perillo also pitched an inning in game two.
• The Lady Bears issued 17 walks on the day and committed two errors.
• St. Joseph's finished with nine runners left on base over the course of the day.
• 13 different players recorded a hit for Ave Maria in game one.

THE LADY BEAR FACTS

• St. Joseph's falls to 0-2 all-time against Ave Maria.
• The 23 runs allowed by the Lady Bears in game one is one shy of the school record set against Mount Saint Vincent on April 19, 2007.
• The 22 run margin of defeat is the largest in program history, surpassing the previous high of 19 set against Mount Saint Vincent on April 19, 2007 and Lawrence on March 23, 2008.
• The 20 hits allowed in the opener ties the school record for most hits allowed in a game, previously set on April 27, 2007.

NEXT UP FOR THE LADY BEARS – WISCONSIN-SUPERIOR & BROCKPORT

St. Joseph's concludes their Florida trip tomorrow with a matchup against Wisconsin-Superior at 11 a.m. before capping off the day with a game against Brockport at 1 p.m.