Softball Concludes Gene Cusic Classic With Losses to Wisconsin-Superior and Brockport

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Offense was hard to come by for the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) softball team as they dropped a pair of 8-0 decisions to the University of Wisconsin-Superior and College at Brockport in five innings to conclude their season-opening Florida trip at the Gene Cusic Classic on Thursday afternoon at the Lee County Sports Complex.

St. Joseph's (0-6) ends their time in the Sunshine State winless, while Wisconsin-Superior (13-4) has now won nine games in a row and Brockport (9-3) has earned four straight wins.

The offense struggled for the Lady Bears all day as they were held to two hits over the course of the day and were no hit by the Yellow Jackets.

The first game of the day against Wisconsin-Superior saw the Yellow Jackets jump out to a 2-0 lead in their first at bat, aided by two hits and two St. Joseph's errors. Freshman pitcher Jamilynn McGowan (Staten Island, N.Y./Michael J. Petrides) got the start in the circle and pitched a scoreless second inning to keep the Lady Bears in the game.

However, St. Joseph's bats could not get untrack as Yellow Jackets starter Sarah Hendrickson was dominant throughout, throwing a no-hitter in five innings of work with ten strikeouts and only one walk. Wisconsin-Superior added a pair of runs in the third and four runs in the fourth to make it 8-0 which proved to be the final difference.

McGowan pitched four innings, allowing eight runs (six earned) on nine hits in a losing effort to fall to 0-3 in the circle on the year.

The Lady Bears were once again overmatched as they took on a Brockport team that has won 20 games in each of the last nine seasons. The Golden Eagles struck early and often, scoring a run in each inning off junior starter Jackie Perillo (Howard Beach, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) who went four innings, surrendering eight earned runs on ten hits with one strikeout to drop to 0-3 on the season.

After Brockport starter Jaime Berger struck out the side in the first, the Golden Eagles got on the board with a two-run home run by Emily Kolenda, the first allowed by St. Joseph's this year, in the first and did not look back as they led the rest of the way. The Lady Bears bats were once again stymied by strong pitching as they only recorded two hits, coming off the bats of junior Cassandra Molinari (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) and freshman Kristin Ferrigno (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney).

Molinari finished off the doubleheader going 1-for-4 at the dish and threw out a runner at second from behind the plate, while Ferrigno also went 1-for-4 on the day.

TURNING POINT – WISCONSIN-SUPERIOR

The Lady Bears got behind early as the Yellow Jackets sent seven batters to the plate in the first with two coming around to score on a pair of hits and a pair of St. Joseph's errors to take a 2-0 lead which proved more than enough for Wisconsin-Superior starter Sarah Hendrickson who no-hit the Lady Bears.

TURNING POINT – BROCKPORT

After going down in order in the first, St. Joseph's took the field and Perillo was able to get two outs rather quickly with a single sandwiched in between before Kolenda came to the plate and smacked a two-run homer over the left-field fence to give Brockport a 2-0 lead. The Golden Eagles would add on runs in each of the next four innings, while the Lady Bears were unable to string together any hits.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORES

• Other Contributors: Kristen Candelaria (1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 2 K)
• St. Joseph's pitching improved on the amount of walks issued as they surrendered eight on the day after giving up 17 yesterday.
• Wisconsin-Superior and Brockport pitching had its way with the Lady Bears offense, striking out a combined 19 batters on the day.
• After committing three errors against the Yellow Jackets, the St. Joseph's defense settled down and did not commit one versus the Golden Eagles.

THE LADY BEAR FACTS

• The Lady Bears fall to 0-1 against both Wisconsin-Superior and Brockport in the all-time series.
• St. Joseph's was no hit for the first time since March 18, 2012 against Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
• Molinari has now recorded hits in four of the Lady Bears six games and has thrown out four runners on the year from behind the dish.
• St. Joseph's at 0-6 is off to their worst start since the 2012 season when they started 0-6, but went on to finish 27-12 and made it to the USCAA National Championships.

NEXT UP FOR THE LADY BEARS

The Lady Bears head home and will begin their home slate with a doubleheader against Cedar Crest on Monday, March 24th at 3:30 p.m.