Softball Overwhelms Old Westbury in Sweep of Series Opener

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. —  The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) softball team rang out 31 hits on the afternoon in a pair of dominating triumphs over SUNY College at Old Westbury, 10-2 and 15-7, on Saturday afternoon. The Bears second-straight doubleheader sweep extends their win streak to four as they improve to 4-2 overall and 3-2 in Skyline Conference play.

Junior Ashleigh Hartwig knocked six hits and drove in five runs on the day, classmate Alexis Buchanan had five hits and three RBI. Sophomore Nicole Trani had a 4-for-4 effort with five RBI in the nightcap — accounting for plating seven runs over the twinbill.

Game 1: St. Joseph's 10, Old Westbury 2 (6 innings)

• The Bears opened the scoring with a trio of runs in the second. Jessica Mecham (1-4, RBI, R) and Buchanan led off with back-to-back singles and Casey Bennett (2-3, 2 RBI, 2 R, 2 2B) both brought them home with a double to left center, scoring the next batter on an error.
• SJC tacked on three more runs in the fourth highlighted by a Trani (1-2, 2 RBI, 2 R, 3B) two-run triple and added a solo run in the fifth on a Mecham grounder to move ahead 7-0.
• In the sixth, Sierra Bedrin (1-4, RBI, R) singled in a run, and Hartwig doubled in a pair to hang three more for a 10-0 advantage. In the bottom half, the Panthers spoiled the shutout with two runs, but it wasn't enough to extend the game to seven innings.
• Getting her third game one start of the season, Mecham (6 IP, 2 ER, 5 H) went the distance again striking out four to improve to 2-1 in the circle.

Game 2: St. Joseph's 15, Old Westbury 7 (5 innings)

• Both offenses came alive in game two as each squad posted runs in every half-inning of the first four frames.
• The Bears jumped ahead with a five-run first. Trani opened the scoring with a single up the middle that started her 4-for-4 effort at the dish with five RBI. Hartwig (3-4, 3 RBI, R) scored her with a single, and Buchanan (2-4, 3 RBI, 2 R, 2B) capped off the frame with a double down the line that scored two.
• Old Westbury scored two in the bottom half that the Bears matched in the top of the second with Trani driving in Bedrin (3-4, RBI, R) who led off the frame, and Mecham (1-3, RBI, 2 R) bringing in Trani.
• SJC held on to an 8-6 advantage after three innings before breaking the game open with a seven-run fourth highlighted back-to-back-to-back run-scoring singles from Bedrin, Trani, and Hartwig that pushed the Bears lead to 15-6.
• A joint effort in the circle powered the victory, Allison Kaspar (2 IP, 4 ER, 3 H, 1 K) tossed two innings in a no-decision, Bedrin (1 IP, 2 ER, 3 H) earned the win in relief to move to 2-0 on the season and Gabriella Salvador (2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER) closing it out with two innings of one-hit, shutout ball.
• Vivian Tomovich (3-4, R) and Bennett (2-3, 2B) also added multi-hit games for SJC in the 19-hit outburst.

On Deck

In a game originally scheduled for Sunday, the Bears and Panthers will wrap up their three-game Skyline series with a single game on Monday at 6:30 p.m. back at Farmingdale State College. Live stats and video will be available on SJCBears.com