Owls squeeze by Ravens with 2-1 and 6-5 (11 innings) victories

Boxscore Game One
Boxscore Game Two

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (April 20, 2008) – Southern Connecticut State University needed rallies in both games to sweep Franklin Pierce University in a Northeast-10 Conference softball doubleheader at Pelz Field on Sunday afternoon. The Owls scored once in the sixth to earn a 2-1 win in game one, then scored in each of the last two innings to take a 6-5, 11-inning victory in the second game.


Southern Connecticut 2, Franklin Pierce 1 (Game One)

Neither team’s offense got going in the first game of the afternoon, as no player had more than one hit, but Southern Connecticut scored runs in the fifth and sixth innings to overcome a 1-0 deficit and secure a 2-1 win.

Junior Amanda Pindar (New Britain, Conn./New Britain) earned the win for the Owls in relief, tossing five innings and giving up only one unearned run on two hits. Franklin Pierce freshman Kayla Johnson (Hudson, N.H./Alvirne) was the hard-luck loser (3-11) for the visitors, scattering four hits and giving up only two runs (one earned) in six innings.

Southern Connecticut took the lead for the first and only time on the day in the bottom of the sixth. Sophomore Khristie Lee (Aztec, N.M.) led off with a single and was still at first with two outs when junior Monica Savarese (Orange, Conn./Amity) hit a triple to right field to plate Lee with the game-winning run.

The Owls got their first run of the day in the previous inning, when a throwing error by freshman Emily Griffin (Leominster, Mass./Leominster) put runners on second and third for junior Amanda St. George (Shelton, Conn./New Britain), who singled to right to score a run.

The Ravens jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning, but it was the only run the team would get in the game. Sophomore Kristen Tracy (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Walter Panas) recorded a one-out single and reached second before freshman Kelsey Dumont (Swanton, Vt./Missisquoi Valley Union) came in to pinch run. Dumont eventually scored on an errant throw by the second baseman on a double-play attempt.


Southern Connecticut 6, Franklin Pierce 5 -- 11 innings (Game Two)

Franklin Pierce and Southern Connecticut battled for 11 innings in the second game of the afternoon, but the Owls tied the game in the bottom of the tenth and won it in the eleventh in outlasting the Ravens, 6-5.

The 11-inning affair was the longest game for the Ravens since a 2-1 victory over Merrimack College in 12 innings on April 18, 2002. Junior Courtney Jacobs (Fitchburg, Mass./Fitchburg) was in the circle for the entire game for Franklin Pierce but took the loss (3-12), ceding six runs (four earned) on 13 hits. Her 10.1 innings of work marks the second highest single-game total for a Raven, behind only the 12 innings that Kalene Wotton threw against Merrimack in 2002.

The Ravens were one out away from splitting the doubleheader in the seventh inning, but the visitors could not close out the game. The Owls had two runners on but were down to their last out when Savarese stepped to the plate and smacked a two-run double to left center that knotted the game at four and sent it into extras.

Runners were placed on second base beginning with the tenth inning, and the Ravens struck first as Griffin advanced to third on a single by junior Jackie Prybella (Marshfield, Mass./ Marshfield) and came home on a perfectly executed double steal.

The Owls came back with single runs in the final two innings, however, as a sacrifice fly by sophomore Kerry Iacomini (Pleasant Valley, N.Y./Our Lady of Lourdes) sent the game to the eleventh inning before Lee recorded an RBI single with one out to plate the game-winning run.

The Ravens built up a 4-2 lead headed into the bottom of the seventh, as the Ravens scored once in the second inning and three times in the fourth. Freshman Erin Clark (Fort Ann, N.Y./Fort Ann) had a two-run single as part of a three-run fourth inning, while Jacobs began the scoring by driving in junior Elaine Matthews (Roslindale, Mass./Archbishop Williams) in the second.

Franklin Pierce (6-30, 5-17 NE-10) continues its six-game road trip on Tuesday with a doubleheader against Assumption College starting at 3 p.m. Southern Connecticut (19-22, 12-8 NE-10) plays its final home games of the regular season against Stonehill College at 3 p.m.