Lady Bears Defeat Albertus Magnus in Home Opener

(BROOKLYN, NY)  St. Joseph's College women's softball invoked the eight-run rule defeating Albertus Magnus College 12-3 in five innings at the National Grid Field in Greenpoint, Brooklyn on Wednesday afternoon.  The Lady Bears improve to 2-5 and Albertus Magnus remains winless at 0-3.

Freshman pitcher Lisa Scheer(Queens, NY/Mary Louis) earned her first collegiate win, pitching a complete game, giving up one earned run, striking out nine and walking only one.  Scheer also helped her cause from the plate going 3-for-3 with a triple and three runs scored.

Alyson Chiaramonte (Staten Island, NY/Moore Catholic) had a triple, three RBIs and scored once.  Emily Palmieri (Staten Island, NY/St. John's Villa) and Caitlyn Kakavas (Queens, NY/St. Agnes) both went 1-for-2 with two RBIs.  Jennifer Safi (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) scored twice.

Scheer kept the Falcons bats quiet for most of the game pitching four scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing only four baserunners.

The Lady Bears got on the board in the second inning with a leadoff triple from Scheer and scoring on a Carissa Cancemi(Queens, NY/Martin Luther) grounder to second, her first RBI of the season.  St. Joe's added two more runs in the third, taking advantage of two Albertus Magnus errors allowing Safi and Kakavas to score.

The Lady Bears bats came alive in the fourth, sending 14 batters to the plate, scoring nine runs to open up the game.  The Falcons also committed five errors, prolonging the inning.  The highlight of the inning was a bases loaded Chiaramonte triple to center that cleared the bases.

Albertus finally reached Scheer in the fifth, getting three straight hits compounded by two Lady Bear defensive miscues.  The Falcons scored three runs in the inning, only one earned, but not enough to extend the game.

The game was a scheduled doubleheader, but Albertus lost their second game starting pitcher to a knee injury in the fifth inning and declared they were unable to play the second game.  By rule, the game is a no contest and neither team will receive a win or loss for the game.

St. Joseph's travels to Washington, D.C. to compete in the Gallaudet Invitational Tournament this weekend.  The Lady Bears face St. Paul's College and Lincoln University in the opening round on Saturday.