Softball Gameday: Lady Bears vs. New Rochelle & Lehman

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – St. Joseph's (0-8) opens their 2014 home slate with doubleheaders against New Rochelle (0-13) and Lehman (3-7). The Lady Bears will face the Blue Angels on Friday, April 4th at 3:30 p.m. before concluding the week with a matchup vs. the Lightning on Sunday, April 6th at 3:30 p.m.

Game Information

The College of New Rochelle (0-13) vs. St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) (0-8)

Friday, April 4th • 3:30 p.m.
Padavan-Preller Field • Bellerose, N.Y.

Lehman College (3-7, 1-3 CUNYAC) vs. St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) (0-8)

Sunday, April 6th • 3:30 p.m.
Padavan-Preller Field • Bellerose, N.Y.

Live Stats
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Storylines

• The Lady Bears look for their first wins of the 2014 season.
• St. Joseph's looks to improve to 28-0 all-time against New Rochelle and 20-0 versus Lehman with a pair of sweeps.
• With a pair of sweeps, the Lady Bears would start 4-0 at home for the first time since the 2012 campaign when they started 6-0 at Preller.
• St. Joseph's tries to get their bats on track as they face a Blue Angels staff that has compiled a 24.58 ERA to begin the season and a Lightning group that has posted an 11.14 ERA.
• The Lady Bears opens league play in the newly rebranded HVIAC versus the Blue Angels and looks to continue its dominance in the conference having not lost to a league foe since 2008.
• New Rochelle looks to pick up their first wins of the season in their first true road games of the season.
• Lehman comes into this weekend's matchup looking for first road wins of the season, entering 0-4 away from home.

Series History

vs. New Rochelle: St. Joseph's holds a perfect 26-0 record against New Rochelle dating back to April 17, 2003. The Lady Bears swept the Blue Angels on April 18, 2013, winning 18-3 and 15-4 in five innings. Jackie Perillo launched a grand slam en route to an eight-RBI evening to lead St. Joseph's.

vs. Lehman: The Lady Bears own a 18-0 mark versus the Lighnting in a series that dates back to April 1, 2004. In their last meeting on April 1, 2013, St. Joseph's was three outs away from suffering a run rule defeat before scoring nine unanswered runs in the final three innings that handed the Lady Bears a 13-12 walk-off win and followed it with a 5-3 victory in the nightcap.

The Lady Bear Facts

Last Time Out: St. Joseph's dropped both ends of a doubleheader to Mount Saint Vincent on Tuesday, falling 3-0 in the opener before dropping a 3-2 extra-inning affair in the nightcap. Cassandra Molinari and Samantha Rossi each recorded an RBI in game two for the Lady Bears.

St. Joseph's opens up their 2014 home slate looking for their first wins of the season. The Lady Bears have had a good track record in home games under Coach Carbone, finishing over .500 in each year since 2002 and have accumulated an overall record of 139-25 (.848). St. Joseph's also begins its quest for their sixth straight Hudson Valley Invitational title as they have dominated the conference opposition under the tutelage of Carbone, winning every league game since 2008.

The Lady Bears have struggled at the dish to begin the season, hitting .159 as a team over the first eight games. After a tough start to the season, the pitching staff stepped up for St. Joseph's in their last games against Mount Saint Vincent, holding the Dolphins to just six runs in the doubleheader on Tuesday.

One-time HVIAC Player of the Week Cassandra Molinari has started her junior season off strong for the Lady Bears, hitting a team-leading .381 (8-for-21) on the season with a team-high-tying two runs scored along with two RBI. The catcher/second baseman has also been efficient defensively from behind the plate, throwing out four potential base stealers.

Also adding a threat to the St. Joseph's lineup is one-time HVIAC Rookie of the Week Kristin Ferrigno who has started off her rookie campaign with a team-high three RBI to start the season. Fellow freshman Samantha Rossi is tied for the team lead with two runs scored and has two RBI on the year.

Junior Jackie Perillo is a dual threat for the Lady Bears, serving as both an outfielder and a pitcher. Perillo is hitting .211 (4-for-19) with two runs scored and has also made five appearances in the circle making four starts with three complete games. The junior is coming off a strong outing against Mount Saint Vincent, going six innings strong allowing three earned runs on seven hits. Also contributing in the circle is freshman Jamilynn McGowan who has made four starts with two complete games and is coming off an outing that saw her go 7 2/3 innings allowing only one earned run on seven hits.

Angel Dustings

Last Time Out: New Rochelle was shutout in both games of a doubleheader versus Mount Saint Mary, losing 24-0 in the opener before falling 22-0 in the finale.

New Rochelle has struggled to start the season, losing 13 consecutive games all by the mercy rule. The Blue Angels has had its struggles at the plate to start the season, hitting .130 as a team and have been shutout eight times. Pitching has also been an issue for New Rochelle with their staff compiling a 24.58 ERA to date.

Offensively, the Blue Angels are paced by this week's HVIAC Player of the Week Shamella Bartholomew who leads the team with a .286 (4-for-14) batting average to begin the season. Tanika Charles leads the team with five runs scored, while Genesis Garcia ranks first on the team with three RBI.

This week's HVIAC Pitcher of the Week Katy Baudendistel is coming off her first collegiate appearance in the circle, twirling four shutout innings of relief, scattering six hits while striking out two against Mount Saint Vincent. Colleen Baudendistel has made six starts for New Rochelle going the distance a team-high five times in 23.0 innings of work.

Lightning Strikes

Last Time Out: The Lightning split a pair of games with John Jay College, in Lehman's home conference opener, on Tuesday. The Bloodhounds won the opener, 10-6, before the Lightning rebounded to take the nightcap, 6-4. Kyala Cruz finished with six RBI on the evening, three in each game and Meghan Bravo picked up the win in the circle in the second game.

Lehman enters this weekend's matchup coming off their first conference win of the year against John Jay, snapping a seven-game losing streak. The Lightning are coming off a season where they went 4-24 and finished sixth in the seven-team CUNYAC.

Lehman ranks third in the CUNYAC with a .258 batting average, but struggles in the circle with a 11.14 ERA. The Lightning are strong on the base paths, stealing a CUNYAC-leading 22 bases.

Leading Lehman in several offensive categories is Kyala Cruz who leads the team with a .483 batting average, .724 slugging percentage, five doubles and also ranks second on the team with nine RBI.

Sheila San Andres is a dual threat as both a pitcher and an outfielder for the Lightning. The senior is batting .360 (9-for-25) to start the season with a team-high 11 RBIs and has six runs scored. San Andres has also compiled an 11.30 ERA in five starts going the distance four times.

One-time CUNYAC Rookie of the Week Meghan Bravo has six RBIs and has recorded all three Lightning wins on the season, accumulating a 10.98 ERA in the circle.

Team Comparison

*Statistics for games played through Wednesday, April 2nd

Lady Bears	Nickname	Blue Angels	Lightning
0-8	Record	0-13	3-7 (1-3)
HVIAC	Conference	HVIAC	CUNYAC
Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Team Info	Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Roster | Schedule | Statistics
Cassandra Molinari (.381)	Top Avg.	Shamella Bartholomew (.286)	Kyala Cruz (.483)
Kristin Ferrigno (3)	Top RBI	Genesis Garcia (3)	Sheila San Andres (11)
Jackie Perillo (5)	Top K	Colleen Baudendistel (10)	Meghan Bravo (16)
.159	Bat. Avg.	.130	.258
.177	Slugging	.135	.357
.233	OBP	.203	.350
11	Runs	7	58
26	Hits	24	63
9	RBI	6	39
1	SB	11	22
9.69	ERA	24.58	11.14
.392	Opp. Avg.	.523	.373
8/46	K/BB	17/59	30/55
.921	Field %	.800	.888