Hartwig’s Seven RBI and 100th Career Hit Highlights Softball’s Sweep of Purchase

PATCHOGUE, N.Y. — Junior Ashleigh Hartwig became the fastest student-athlete in St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) softball team history to reach the career 100-hit mark with a five-hit afternoon leading the Bears to a doubleheader sweep of Purchase College, 13-0 and 11-3, on Sunday.

Hartwig reached the milestone in 63 games and 199 at bats lifting her career average back over .500. She is the 17th Bear to join the club and the first Bear to accomplish the feat playing their entire career in the Skyline Conference.

Jessica Mecham tossed a complete-game shutout, striking out four, while Vivian Tomovich blasted her first home run of the season to highlight game one. The game one triumph also moved the Bears (12-3, 9-3) into a half-game lead for first place atop the Skyline Conference standings.

Game 1: St. Joseph's 13, Purchase 0 (5 innings)

• Hartwig (1-1, 2 RBI, R, 2 SF) began her seven-RBI afternoon with a sacrifice fly to score Sierra Bedrin (2-4, R, 2B) who led off with a double giving the Bears an early 1-0 lead after one.
• St. Joseph's erupted for nine runs in the third as they trotted 12 batters to the plate. Another Hartwig sac fly started the scoring and Casey Bennett (2-3, RBI, R, 2B), Alexis Buchanan (2-3, 2 RBI, 2 R, 2B), Vanessa Quigley (1-2, RBI, R, SF) and Isabella Calabrese (1-2, RBI, R, BB) all followed with run-scoring hits. Coming around to bat for the second time in the frame, Tomovich (2-2, 3 RBI, 2 R, HR) lifted a two-run home run over the left field fence; her second collegiate home run.
• The Bears scored three more in the fourth aided by a Panther error and Tomovich's single driving in her third run of the game.
• Mecham (5 IP, 0 ER, 4 K) surrendered a lone hit in the fifth, but recorded two of her four strikeouts to close out the shutout, notching her league-leading sixth win of the season. She finishes the four-game series having worked 13 scorless innings.

Game 2: St. Joseph's 11, Purchase 3 (5 innings)

• The Panthers took an early 1-0 lead on a two-out single by Kelly Agostini but the Bears quickly countered in the home half as Bedrin (2-3, 3 R, BB, 2 SB) led off again with a double and Hartwig (4-4, 5 RBI, 2 R, 2B, 2 3B, SB) delivered her with a double of her own. A Buchanan sacrifice fly put Bears up for good 2-1.
• Tomovich (2-3, RBI, R, 2B) picked up her fourth RBI of the day  to start the scoring in a four-run second and Tayler Faraguna (1-2, RBI, R, SB) legged out an infield single to score Tomovich for a 4-1 lead. A Hartwig RBI single moved her one away from the milestone before a Bennett (0-1, SF, BB, SB) sac fly extended the lead to 6-1.
• After the Panthers got one back in the fourth, the Bears tacked on three more in the bottom half. Kristen Oddo (1-2, RBI, 2 R, 3B) made a memorable first collegiate hit lacing an RBI triple and Hartwig followed with standup triple to right field triple for her milestone hit. 
• In the fifth, needing a home run to hit for the cycle, Hartwig settled for her second triple of the game scoring two-more runs to reach the eight-run threshold.
• Allison Kaspar (5 IP, 5 K, 3 ER) went the distance in the circle and struck out five to pick up her third win of the season, improving to 3-2.

Highlights

SB (Highlight) | Vivian Tomovich smashes a two-run home run, her first of the season and second of her career, highlighting a big 9-run 3rd for @SJCBearsSball against Purchase#BearWitnessSJC #SJCNY #d3sb #SkylineSB pic.twitter.com/5f3i6Dui6C

— St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) Bears (@SJCBears) April 18, 2021

SB (Highlight) | Ashleigh Hartwig becomes the fastest in @SJCBearsSball history to 100 hits, knocking an opposite-field RBI triple for her 3rd hit of the game.

She reached the mark in 199 at bats and 63 games. #BearWitnessSJC #SJCNY #d3sb #SkylineSB pic.twitter.com/Qmc8aVPHYD

— St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) Bears (@SJCBears) April 18, 2021

On Deck

Winners of 12 of their last 13, the Bears play host to Mount Saint Vincent on Saturday, April 24 in a doubleheader starting at noon. All are also invited to join the Virtual Tailgate Party for the game as part of the inaugural Bears Spirit Fest, hosted by the Office of Alumni Engagement. For more information and to register, visit sjcbears.com/SpiritFest