Hartwig Continues to Wield a Hot Bat as Softball Sweeps Mount Saint Vincent

PATCHOGUE, N.Y. — Junior Ashleigh Hartwig (Santee, Calif./West Hills) extended her hitting streak to 17 games and moved into the league lead for batting, home runs, and RBI as the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) softball team earned a doubleheader sweep of the College of Mount Saint Vincent, 6-3 and 10-0, on Tuesday evening at the SJC Outdoor Field Complex.

Hartwig lifted a solo shot in the opener for her third home run of the season and finished the night 4-for-6 to lift her average to .603 while driving in six and scoring four times.

Sophomore Sierra Bedrin (Rocklin, Calif./Whitney) recorded her first collegiate complete-game win in the circle in the opener and junior Allison Kaspar (Miller Place, N.Y./Rocky Point) fired a dominant shutout in the nightcap for her fourth win.

The game one victory moved the Bears (15-4, 11-4) into a tie for first place in the Skyline Conference with Farmingdale State heading into the final two weekends of the regular season. The Bears close out the season series with the Dolphins (2-10, 2-7) at 3-1.

Game 1: St. Joseph's 6, Mount Saint Vincent 3

• The Bears used timely hitting, scoring five of their six runs with two outs. SJC posted solo runs in each of the first three innings and scored a pair in the fifth to jump out to a 5-0 lead. 
• Hartwig's (2-3, 4 RBI, R, HR) sac fly opened the scoring in the first. Isabella Calabrese (2-3, 2 RBI, 2B) belted a two-out double in the second that scored Nicole Trani (2-3, 2 R, 2B) for a 2-0 lead. 
• Hartwig's home run in the third and two-run single in the fifth, pushed the Bears lead to 5-0. 
• Bedrin (W, CG, 7 IP, 5 K, 3 ER | 2-4, 2 R) allowed just four hits through four before a Lakisha Camacho solo home run spoiled the shutout in the bottom of the fifth but SJC got it back in the top half on a Calabrese single.
• CMSV scored a pair in the bottom of the sixth to cut the deficit to 6-3 and brought the tying run to the plate in the seventh after back-to-back one-out singles, but Bedrin induced a game-ending 6-4-3 double play to escape the jam and seal the win.
• Vivian Tomovich (2-3, R, 2B) rounded out five Bears each knocking two hits in the opener.

Game 2: St. Joseph's 10, Mount Saint Vincent 0 (5 innings, non-conference)

• Hartwig (2-3, 2 RBI, 3 R, 2B, SB, BB) wasted no time to extend her hit streak and started the scoring again with a double in the first and scored herself on a Casey Bennett (2-3, 3 RBI, 2B) double for a quick 2-0 lead. 
• After Harwig drove in her sixth run of the night in the second, the Bears broke the game open with a five-run third highlighted by a Maeve McKeon (1-2, 2 RBI, R, 2B) two-run double and a Bennett two-out, two-run single. An Alexis Buchanan (1-4, RBI) single in the fifth scored Hartig for a 10-0 advantage
• Kaspar (W, 5 IP, 4 H, 2 K, 0 BB) dominated in the circle for her second collegiate shutout. A leadoff single in the third was her only blemish through four near perfect innings. The Dolphins knocked three hits in the fifth, but couldn't advance anyone past second base in defeat.
• Bedrin (2-3, 2 R) and Gabriella Salvador (2-2, R) also finished with multi-hit games as the Bears scored 10 runs on 12 hits.

On Deck

The Bears will open a four-game set with sibling rivals SJC Long Island this weekend in the first games with fans at the Outdoor Field Complex. Spectators will only be allowed via a player pass list with each student-athlete allowed two guests each. 

Both Saturday's and Sunday's doubleheaders will start at noon with the Bears the home team on Sunday and also celebrating Senior Day for their lone senior Vanessa Quigley. Live stats and video will be available on sjcbears.com.