Lady Bears Softball Comes Up Empty on Senior Day vs. Briarcliffe

PATCHOGUE, N.Y. – The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) softball team dropped a hard-fought doubleheader to Briarcliffe College, 4-1 and 8-1, as the Lady Bears celebrated Senior Day on Saturday afternoon at the SJC Outdoor Athletic Complex.

St. Joseph's (14-17-1) concludes their 2013 regular season on a four-game losing streak while the USCAA No. 1 ranked Bulldogs (32-6) have now won seven in a row as they now enter the USCAA Softball National Championship.

Seniors Mabel Vargas (Ridgewood, NY/Mary Louis), Danielle Marino (Maspeth, NY/Mary Louis), Andrea Sideli (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney), Millicia Malvasio (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) and Teresa Mangan (Cleveland, OH/St. Joseph's) were honored in a ceremony after the games.

In the opener, Briarcliffe threatened in each of the first three innings but were unable to get a run across as Vargas managed to escape the early jams unharmed. St. Joseph's broke the scoreless tie in the fourth scoring a run in the bottom half of the inning to take a 1-0 lead. After a scoreless fifth, the Bulldogs took the lead for good with a four spot in the sixth to build a 4-1 advantage.

In the nightcap, Briarcliffe built a 3-0 lead after 3 1/2 innings before the Lady Bears responded with a run in the fourth to cut the deficit to 3-1. In their subsequent at bat in the fifth, the Bulldogs responded with a five-run fifth to put the game out of reach at 8-1.

Vargas (5-11) pitched well going 6 1/3 innings surrendering four earned runs on nine hits with one strikeout in game one.  Sophomore Jackie Perillo (Howard Beach, NY/Archbishop Molloy)(7-6) took the loss in the nightcap going the distance allowing six earned runs on 13 hits with one punchout.

Leading St. Joseph's at the plate was freshman Maria Randazzo (Brooklyn, NY/Fontbonne Hall) who went 2-for-4 on the day driving in the Lady Bears lone run in game one. Sideli finished the day going 2-for-5 knocking in St. Joseph's only run in the nightcap. Vargas helped her cause at the plate in game one by going 1-for-3 scoring a run. Malvasio went 1-for-5 at the dish while Marino concluded the day going 1-for-6 producing St. Joseph's only run in the nightcap.

TURNING POINT – GAME ONE

The game was tied at 0-0 heading to the bottom of the fourth when the Lady Bears scored the first run of the contest on a RBI single from Randazzo taking a 1-0 lead after four innings of play. After a scoreless fifth, Briarcliffe sent seven batters to the plate with three runs scoring on a bases-clearing triple by Shannon Dougherty followed by a RBI groundout to the shortstop which gave the Bulldogs a 4-1 lead they would not relinquish.

TURNING POINT – GAME TWO

Briarcliffe struck first with a run in the first to take an early 1-0 lead before tacking on two more runs in the top half of the fourth to build a 3-0 lead. The Lady Bears responded with a run in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI single up the middle from Sideli cutting the deficit to 3-1 after four. However, in the Bulldogs very next at bat they would send nine batters to the plate putting five runs up on the board helped by four doubles increasing their lead to 8-1 which would prove too much a deficit for St. Joseph's to overcome.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Nine of the Bulldogs combined 22 hits went for extra bases.
• Sideli was the only Lady Bear to knock a hit in both games, extending her hitting and reached base safely streak to a team-longest six games.
• The teams combined for nine errors between the two games.
• Megan Moran went 1-for-2 in game one as she celebrated her 21st birthday.
• The Briarcliffe pitching stymied the Lady Bears holding them to 11 hits between the two games and just four in game two. Jillian McGovern (15-4) earned the win in game one (7 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 4 K). Ivette Yi-Santiago (16-2) captured the win in the nightcap (7 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 8 K).

NEWS AND NOTES

• The Lady Bears fall to 10-5 in the all-time series against Briarcliffe losing their first games in the series since 2011.

NEXT UP FOR THE LADY BEARS – HVWAC INVITATIONAL

St. Joseph's returns to action tomorrow as they take part in the HVWAC Invitational on Sunday, May 5th as the No. 1 seed playing No. 4 seed Yeshiva at Sarah Lawrence with first pitch set for 12 p.m.