NCAA SOFTBALL: Saint Joseph’s (ME) Topples Western Connecticut in NCAA Opener, 10-0

STANDISH, ME – Senior designated player Lindsay Moore (Barrington, N.H.) went 3-4 with two runs, a home run and five RBI and senior pitcher Rae-Marie Copan (Newton, Mass.) tossed a two-hitter to propel #3 Saint Joseph's College (34-4) past #2 Western Connecticut State University (31-12-1), 10-0, in an NCAA DIII Softball Tournament contest at Wellesley College on Friday afternoon.

With the victory, Saint Joseph's jumps into the winners' bracket and will face the victor of today's nightcap contest, featuring top-seeded Wellesley and #4 Bridgewater State University, at 11:00 AM on Saturday. Western Connecticut plays the Wellesley/Bridgewater loser in an elimination game slated to begin at 1:30 PM tomorrow.

Saint Joseph's threatened to score early as the Royal Blue had the bases loaded with two out in the top of the second, but the Colonials preserved the scoreless stalemate as sophomore Allie Sabith (Meriden, Conn.) entered the game in relief and retired freshman center fielder Carla Tripp (Lovell, Maine) with a fly out to left.

The Monks would score in their next turn at the bat, however, as Moore strode to the plate with two out and belted a 2-2 offering from Sabith over the right-center wall to provide her team with a 1-0 edge.

As it played out, Copan did not require additional run support, but the SJC offense proceeded to put the game well out of reach by scoring three in the fifth, two in the sixth and four in the seventh to account for the 10-0 final.

In the fifth, junior third baseman Kim Jordan (Bangor, Maine) led off with a single and scored when the following batter, freshman second baseman Mariah Harrison (Buxton, Maine), singled and the throw from right field was muffed by Western third baseman Nina Wojtkiewicz (Griswold, Conn.). Moore worked a five-pitch walk and freshman shortstop Danica Gleason (South Portland, Maine) reached with a bunt single to load the bases for senior left fielder Theresa Hendrix (Scarborough, Maine/Cheverus), who promptly ripped a single up the middle, plating Harrison and Moore to make it a 4-0 game through five frames.

The Monks' hit parade continued in the sixth, as the Royal Blue scored a pair of runs off three hits to secure a 6-0 cushion. Junior right fielder Victoria Ramos (North Scituate, R.I.) led off the inning and earned a free pass and Tripp followed with an infield single. Jordan moved both runners up 60 feet with a sacrifice bunt and, after an infield groundout off the bat of Harrison, Moore put the Monks up by a half dozen when she plated both runners with a single down the left field line.

Sophomore pitcher Emily Cintorino (Bristol, Conn.), who started the game for the Colonials but was lifted in favor of Sabith with two out in the second, returned to the circle in the seventh and fared no better than her classmate, allowing four runs off three hits while recording just two outs. Freshman catcher Jennifer Murphy (Andover, Mass.) reached with a one-out single and was replaced at first with a pinch runner in first-year Molly Mack (Portland, Maine/McAuley). Ramos and Jordan sandwiched a Tripp sac bunt to load the bases for Harrison, who rapped a two-run single – sending Mack and Ramos across the plate – to make it an 8-0 game. With Jordan on third and Harrison on second and two out, Moore came up and knocked both runners home with a sharp single to left field, capping the game scoring and closing the book on Cintorino. Colonials' shortstop Kristen Sliman (Brewster, N.Y.) replaced Cintorino in the circle and fanned the only batter she faced for the final out of the inning.

Copan was absolutely brilliant in the victory and improves to 17-2 on the season as a result. The Monks' unquestioned ace allowed a single with two out in the first and proceeded to hold the Colonials without a baserunner until the sixth, when Maegan Rodriguez (East Haven, Conn.) led off with a nine-pitch walk and Wojtkiewicz singled through the left side. Copan worked her way through the only jam she would face all afternoon by inducing a foul pop to third and a harmless fly to right and tossed just seven total pitches in a 1-2-3 seventh inning to close out the contest.

Offensively, Harrison was 2-5 with two runs and a pair of RBI, Gleason went 2-4 and Murphy added two hits in three at bats in the Monks' NCAA-opening victory. Ramos tied the Monks' single-game record for walks with four free passes in the triumph while Moore's five RBI ties a career-high for the senior standout.

For Saint Joseph's, today's scoring output matches the total scored by the Monks in the team's last five NCAA Tournament contests spanning the last two seasons.

Sabith was hit with the loss for the Colonials and falls to 16-9 on the year after surrendering six runs off nine hits and three walks over 4.1 innings of relief. Cintorino allowed four runs off three hits and five walks in 2.1 innings for Western Connecticut.

WELLESLEY REGIONAL TOURNAMENT HOME PAGE: http://www.wellesleyblue.com/sports/sball/2013-14/releases/20140505fjoqsm

*Courtesy of Saint Joseph's College Sports Information