Softball Battles Mount Saint Mary But Streak Halted At Six

Softball Battles Mount Saint Mary But Streak Halted At Six

NEWBURGH, N.Y. — The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) softball team suffered their first Skyline Conference losses of the season falling 3-0 and 3-1 to defending champion Mount Saint Mary College on the road on Saturday.

Despite the losses, it was the smallest margin of defeat for the Bears (7-8 4-2 Skyline) in the all time-series with the Knights (5-9, 4-0 Skyline), ending their longest streak since 2015 at six games.

Game 1: Mount Saint Mary 3, St. Joseph's 0

The Bears threatened in the first advancing runners to second and third after a hit batter and a walk, but couldn't push anyone across. Emily Lang lifted a two-out solo homer in the home half of the inning to open the scoring and served as the game's lone run until the fifth, when the hosts tacked on two more insurance runs.

Knights starter Bridget Bennett surrendered just one hit to the Bears, a Vivian Tomovich (San Diego, Calif./Serra) infield single in the third, and shut down any SJC hope of a comeback, retiring the final 13 batters.

Game 2: Mount Saint Mary 3, St. Joseph's 1

The hosts scored again early posting a pair of runs in the first, both coming with two outs, and both coming unearned with the Bears defense committing two miscues.

Ashleigh Hartwig (Santee, Calif./West Hills) and Jessica Mecham (West Jordan, Utah/Copper Hills) led off the second and third innings with singles, but the Bears couldn't string anything behind them and remained down 2-0 after five.

The Bears got on the board in the sixth with Jessica Vento (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) leading off with a double and Victoria Mahoney (Allenwood, N.J./Saint John Vianney) following with an infield single. Tomovich sacrificed both into scoring position and Alexis Buchanan (Murrieta, Calif./Murrieta) scored Vento with a grounder to cut the deficit in half.

But the Knights matched the run in the bottom half of the frame, loading the bases with one out and scoring on a grounder.

In the seventh, a Nicole Quintana (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) one-out single brought the tying run to the plate, but a pair of grounders ended any hopes of a late rally.

For the Bears

  • Jessica Vento knocked the lone extra-base hit on the day with a double and scored the lone run in game two.
  • Alexis Buchanan had the Bears lone RBI.
  • Victoria Mahoney held the Knights to four hits in a complete-game effort in game one, only two of the three runs coming earned.
  • Jessica Mecham also had a strong showing in the circle in game two, scattering seven hits, and allowing just one earned run, striking out two.

Next Up for the Bears

St. Joseph's will look to rebound heading to Purchase College (4-8, 1-3) for a doubleheader on Sunday (Mar. 30) starting at 11 a.m. Live stats will be available on SJCBears.com.