Softball's Offense Comes to Life in Home Opener as They Roll to Doubleheader Sweep

BELLEROSE, N.Y. - The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) softball team (2-6) slammed 26 hits en route to a doubleheader route over The University of Valley Forge (0-2) on Saturday, cruising to a 13-0 five-inning victory in game one and finishing off the sweep with a 14-2 five-inning win in game two.

The Lady Bears' offense opened the flood gates in the bottom of the first of game one, connecting for seven hits and taking advantage of three errors to push ten runners across.

Senior Cassandra Molinari (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) collected three RBIs in the inning, providing St. Joseph's with their first run with a fielder's choice in her first at bat and lining a 2-RBI single to center her next time up.

The Lady Bears rallied for two more in the second inning, capped by sophomore Kristin Ferrigno's (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) RBI single up the middle for her third run batted in of the game.

With the offense rolling, starter Theresa Armano (Middle Village, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) continued to throw up zeroes for St. Joseph's. Making use of ample run support, the freshman tossed a complete game five-inning shutout, improving to 1-3 on the season.

With a clean slate in game two, Valley Forge started things off with consecutive singles to put runners on first and third. Senior Amanda McGinness powered a sacrifice fly to left field to give the Patriots their first advantage of the day.

After a scoreless bottom of the first, the Lady Bears offense came back to life in the second, exploding for six hits and nine runs to reclaim control. Junior Erica Eddy (Glendale, N.Y./Christ the King) highlighted the inning with a pair of hits, including a 2-RBI double.

After the Lady Bears tacked on two more in the third inning and three more in the fourth, starter Jamilynn McGowan (Staten Island, N.Y./Michael J. Petrides) ended the fifth with a strikeout to enact the eight-run mercy rule. The sophomore fanned three and surrendered only one earned run over five innings to pick up her first win of the season.

Eddy went a perfect 3-for-3 from the plate in game two, falling a homerun short of the cycle. The junior finished 4-for-5 with 3 RBIs on the day, while Ferrigno and Molinari collected four RBIs apiece in a dominant afternoon for the Lady Bears.

St. Joseph's will return to Padavan-Preller Field tomorrow afternoon, squaring off with United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) foe Maine at Presque Isle for another doubleheader (1 p.m. and 3 p.m.).