Salve Regina drops a pair

CLERMONT, Fla. - Less than 24 hours after scoring 17 runs in two victories (thanks to the clocks springing ahead), Salve Regina University softball managed just two runs in a pair of defeats on Sunday, March 8, at Hancock Park.

The Seahawks were stymied by three pitchers on the day, two from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (1-0) and one from Rhode Island College (1-3). The Engineers won 6-1 followed by the Anchorwomen winning their first game of 2015, 10-1 in six innings.

WPI plated three runs in the first inning off starter Nicole Parry (Quincy, Mass.), who had shutout the nation's ninth-ranked team (University of Rochester) just a day earlier. Nina Murphy-Cook (Roseville, Calif.) led off with an infield single; she was successfully sacrificed to second by RiAnna May (Westminster, Colo.), but that was unnecessary as Parry was called for an illegal pitch. May moved Murphy-Cook over to third on another sacrifice bunt.

Kristin Gallagher (Coventry, R.I.) drove in the first run with a single and came home on a two-run triple by Ashlyn Bedard (Hampstead, N.H.). Gallagher scored another run in the third inning and drove in a pair in the fourth for a 6-0 lead.

Salve Regina, which had stranded 10 runners in the first five innings, finally got on the board when Francesca Galeazzi (pronounced Guh-LEE-zee) (Lynn, Mass.) crossed the plate after a passed ball.

Engineer starter Caroline Medino (Pompton Lakes, N.J.) worked out of jams with runners in scoring position in several innings for the victory. Kelsey Saucier (Worcester, Mass.) did not allow an earned run in her three innings of work.

Kara O'Riley (Acton, Mass.) got her first collegiate start as a pitcher against Rhode Island College. Her batterymate, junior co-captain Genevieve Benoit (Swampscott, Mass.), gave the Seahawks an early lead with a two-out solo homerun in the first inning. It was Benoit's second round tripper in two days.

The Anchorwomen scored three in the first, five in the third, and two in the sixth to complete the victory in less than seven innings. Lauren DiScuillo (East Providence, R.I.) collected three hits and two runs scored as the leadoff hitter, and surrendered just the Benoit solo shot and three other hits for the complete-game victory.

Galeazzi turned double plays at second base to end both the first and second innings.

Salve Regina (2-2) plays two more on Monday at Hancock Park, a first-ever meeting with Moravian College (9 a.m.) and a second meeting with Haverford College (11 a.m.).