Lady Bears Sweep John Jay for Fourth Straight Win

BELLEROSE, NY – Coming off a win at the Hudson Valley Women's Athletic Conference Invitational, St. Joseph's had to gear up for a doubleheader with CUNYAC foe John Jay. The Lady Bears had little trouble with the Bloodhounds as they swept the doubleheader, 3-2 and 12-4.

Once again it was Alyson Chiaramonte (Staten Island, NY/Moore Catholic) and Lisa Scheer (Bayside, NY/Mary Louis) earning the victories for St. Joseph's. Both pitched complete games and improved their records to 16-1 and 9-6 respectively. Chiaramonte tied a career high with 15 strikeouts in seven innings while allowing only two runs (one earned) and five hits. Scheer struck out eight batters in her six innings of work allowing four runs (three earned) and seven hits.

Danielle Marino (Maspeth, NY/Mary Louis) had three hits in the doubleheader and currently has a nine-game hitting streak. She also scored four runs and drove home two. Millicia Malvasio(Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) picked up three hits in the twin-bill as well, while scoring two runs and collecting an RBI.

The Lady Bears finished the regular season 25-7 as they head to the United States Collegiate Athletic Association National Championships on Thursday in Akron, Ohio. St. Joseph's will enter the double-elimination tournament having won four straight games and nine of their last ten. The Lady Bears are the No. 3 seed in the tournament and will play No. 6 seed Penn State Mont Alto in their opening round matchup.

Game 1 – St. Joseph's 3, John Jay 2

Game one had all the makings of a great pitching duel between Chiaramonte and Bloodhounds starter Angela Lam. Neither team got on the scoreboard until the bottom of the third when the Lady Bears cracked through for a run. Jackie Marinello (Brooklyn, NY/Fontbonne Hall) opened the frame getting hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a passed ball. Malvasio moved her over with a single and Marino drove her home with a sacrifice fly to right field.

The one run looked like it would hold up as the game remained 1-0 heading into the sixth. The Bloodhounds were finally able to get to Chiaramonte scoring a run on a single by Krystal Class. With two outs, another single advanced Class to second, but a costly error in the outfield allowed Class to score all the way from first on the play.

St. Joseph's found themselves trailing for the first time all game. In the bottom half of the inning, Caitlyn Kakavas (Bayside, NY/St. Agnes) led off with a single and stole a base to put herself in scoring position with nobody out. It looked like Lam might escape the inning, retiring the next two batters, but Lauren Norris (Sunnyside, NY/Long Island City) came through with an RBI single to tie the game 2-2.

Chiaramonte set the bottom of the Bloodhounds order down 1-2-3 in the seventh, as the Lady Bears looked to win another game in their final at bat.

Malvasio led off the inning with a walk and Marino and Scheer followed with singles to load the bases with nobody out. After a fielder's choice forced Malvasio out at home, Kakavas came through with a single for the walk-off win. The hit was Kakavas' second game winner in three days. She broke a 0-0 tie in the bottom of the sixth with a single to drive home the winning run on Friday against St. Joseph's – Long Island. It is also her second walk-off hit of the season. She ended a game earlier with a home run against USCAA rival, Briarcliffe.

Game 2 – St. Joseph's 12, John Jay 4 (6 inn)

After scoring a run in the first on an RBI single by Chiaramonte, The Lady Bears once again found themselves in a hole, trailing 3-1 after three and a half innings. A pair of extra-base hits by the Bloodhounds gave them two runs in the fourth and the two-run advantage.

St. Joseph's answered the bell in the bottom half of the fourth inning.  Andrea Sideli (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) walked to lead off the frame and scored on an RBI single by Jillian Troise (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney). With two outs, Malvasio doubled to tie the game and Marino tripled to give the Lady Bears the lead back. St. Joseph's took a two run lead, 5-3, when Marino scored on a throwing error.

John Jay cut into the Lady Bear's lead with a run in the sixth when Nelly Vega tripled and scored. Scheer got out of the inning with the lead intact and the Lady Bears proceeded to score seven runs in the bottom half of the inning to cross the eight run threshold. The first six runners all reached base and scored via a hit or a walk and a misplay in the outfield brought to Lady Bears' lead to eight, 12-4, to put the run rule into effect and end the game.