Chiaramonte Fires Two-Hitter in Split With Purchase

PURCHASE, NY – Alyson Chiaramonte (Staten Island, NY/Moore Catholic) fired a two-hitter and collected four hits leading the St. Joseph's College softball team to a split with Purchase College on Friday afternoon.  The Lady Bears took the opener 5-1 while the Panthers earned the split in the nightcap 5-2.

Freshmen Andrea Sideli (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney), Mabel Vargas (Ridgewood, NY/Mary Louis) and sophomore Emily Palmieri (Staten Island, NY/St. John's Villa) had a trio of hits with Vargas scoring three runs and Palmieri driving in two runs with her first home run of the season.  Caitlyn Kakavas (Bayside, NY/St. Agnes) had a pair of hits and runs batted in.

In the opener, St. Joseph's took a 2-0 lead in the third inning loading the bases with one out after singles by Millicia Malvasio (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney), Vargas and a Lisa Scheer (Bayside, NY/Mary Louis) walk.  Malvasio scored on a Purchase error that left the bases loaded and Kakavas brought Vargas home with a single.  Purchase escaped the inning turning a double play as Scheer attempted to score on a sacrifice fly attempt.

Purchase cut the deficit in the bottom half of the frame on a Jessie Domes solo home run, which would be Chiaramonte's only misstep.  Chiaramonte shut down the Panthers the rest of the way allowing only one more runner for the remainder of the contest reaching on a Lady Bears error.  Chiaramonte finished her masterful outing striking out a season-high 12 batters, a mark set three times this season, while walking none and earning her sixth straight victory in the circle, improving to 12-3. 

The game remained scoreless until the seventh with Palmieri launching a two-run home run with two outs, highlighting a three run frame that gave Chiaramonte a comfortable four run cushion.

In the nightcap, St. Joe's got on the board first again in the third inning registering one run on a Kakavas single delivering Scheer who reached on an error.

Purchase would assemble a big fifth inning reaching starter Scheer for five of their seven hits and scoring five runs, accounting for the entire run total in the game.  A two-run home run by Jillian Lucas and a two-run triple by Domes highlighted the inning for the Panthers.

St. Joseph's threatened in the fourth and fifth innings loading the bases twice but coming away with only one run with the Panthers throwing out two runners at home.  Chiaramonte delivered the Lady Bears second run with a single that extended her hitting streak to 21 games, one shy of the program-record held by assistant coach Carol Jeanne Kavanagh during the 2007 season.

The Lady Bears made a final rally in the seventh putting runners at first and second with one out and bringing the tying run to the plate, but came away empty handed.  Purchase earned the 5-2 victory despite committing three more errors than St. Joseph's (4-1) and being outhit 10-7, with the Lady Bears stranding 10 runners in the contest.

Lindsay Froman earned the win for the Panthers allowing two runs (both unearned) on 10 hits, striking out two and walking one.  Scheer took the loss for the Lady Bears allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits with nine strikeouts and no walks.

St. Joseph's (22-9-1) closes out their 2010 regular season hosting CUNY foe John Jay for a doubleheader on Tuesday, April 27 at 5 p.m. at National Grid Softball Field.  The Lady Bears will be celebrating Alumni Night and will be holding a breast cancer fundraiser, wearing special pink jerseys in honor of the event.