Softball Earns Split With John Jay

BELLEROSE, N.Y. – The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) softball team extended their winning streak to a season-high four games with a 7-6 victory in the opening game of a doubleheader versus John Jay College, but the Bloodhounds came back with a 7-2 triumph in the nightcap to salvage the split on Thursday afternoon at Padavan-Preller Field.

St. Joseph's (7-11) has now won seven of their last ten games, while John Jay (8-17) snaps a four-game losing streak with the game two win.

The opener saw the Lady Bears jump all over Bloodhounds starter Lana Kovac in the second inning, plating five runs in the frame to take a 5-0 lead. St. Joseph's received an RBI triple from freshman Geena Campisi (Howard Beach, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) to start off the scoring and continued the two-out rally with RBI singles from freshman Samantha Rossi (Bayside, N.Y./Mary Louis), junior Cassandra Molinari (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) and a two-RBI base knock off the bat of junior Jackie Perillo (Howard Beach, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) to round out the scoring.

After the five-run second inning, the Lady Bears looked like they may have an easy time against John Jay. However, the Bloodhounds responded in the top of the third with a four spot to get within one, 5-4.

John Jay plated a run in the fourth to tie the game up at 5-5, but St. Joseph's quickly regained the lead with a clutch two-RBI single to left center from freshman Briana Robles (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney), coming with two outs, to give the Lady Bears the lead for good at 7-5.

The Bloodhounds plated a run to make things interesting, but Perillo ended the threat with a fly out to right to seal the win. Perillo went the distance, allowing six runs on eight hits to pick up the win and improve to 4-5 on the year.

The second game saw John Jay get off to the quick start this time, scoring seven runs off St. Joseph's freshman starter Jamilynn McGowan (Staten Island, N.Y./Michael J. Petrides) in the first two innings to take a 7-0 lead. The Lady Bears hit Bloodhounds starter Sara McKenna hard in the teams' first meeting on Monday, but today was a different story as McKenna was lights out holding St. Joseph's without a hit until freshman Kristin Ferrigno (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) singled in the fourth.

After a tough pair of opening innings, McGowan settled down and tossed five scoreless innings but the bats wouldn't come to life for the Lady Bears until it was too late. St. Joseph's put together a rally in their last at bat with Robles driving home another run with a single up the middle to get the Lady Bears on the board. St. Joseph's tacked on another run to make it 7-2, but a pair of strikeouts and a groundout to short put an end to the rally.

McGowan went the full seven innings, surrendering seven runs on 12 hits with four strikeouts and falls to 3-6 in the circle on the year.

Robles had a strong day at the plate for the Lady Bears going 2-for-5 with three RBI and a run scored. Rossi ended up 2-for-8 with a run and an RBI, while Perillo batted 1-for-4 with two runs and two runs batted in. Campisi finished 2-for-6, scoring a run and driving in a run, while Ferrigno went 3-for-7 with a run scored.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORES

• Other Contributors: Molinari (2-for-5, R) Christina Quintana (1-for-3)
• St. Joseph's committed a single error in each game, while John Jay made three miscues in the field in the opener and four in the nightcap.
• The Lady Bears outhit the Bloodhounds 11-8 in the opener, but were outhit 12-3 in the second game.
• St. Joseph's struck out five times in the opener and nine times in game two.

THE LADY BEAR FACTS

• The Lady Bears are now 8-4-1 all-time against the Bloodhounds.
• St. Joseph's suffers its first home loss of the season, standing at 4-1.
• Today's split was the first for the Lady Bears this season.

NEXT UP FOR THE LADY BEARS – PURCHASE

The Lady Bears are right back in action tomorrow traveling to Purchase College for a doubleheader at 4 p.m.