BRIGHTON, Mass. – Simmons softball (23-14) advances into the winner's bracket of the 2023 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship tournament with a 5-3 victory over Saint Joseph's College of Maine (21-16) on Thursday evening.
After defeating third seeded Emmanuel College in the first game of the day, Saint Joseph's College of Maine jumped out to the early, 1-0, lead. Taking advantage of a Sharks defensive error in the middle infield, leadoff hitter Hannah Gosselin scored the first run of the game.
Monks starter Sydney Hatch cruised her way through the Shark line up, but ran into a bit a trouble the second time around. In the home half of third things began to unravel for Hatch after hitting first-year A.J. Swett with a pitch to bring the lineup back around to the top. First-year Leah Connor and sophomore Raya Anderson followed up with back-to-back base hits to load the bases bring up the meat of the order.
Junior Jordyn Rubin ripped an opposite field double into left centerfield to plate both Swett and Connor and put the Sharks on top, 2-1. But they were not done yet. Two batters later, senior Maddie Castigliego helped her own caused bring in another two runs with an RBI single into right field and take a 4-1 lead.
The Monks continued to chip away at the lead, cutting the lead in half scoring in the top of the fourth inning. They grabbed another run in the top of the fifth to make it a one-run game and were threatening to score more. Back-to-back hits by Paige Connery and Abby Carpenter loaded the bases with two outs and in the process, knocked Castigliego from the game. But first-year right-hander Piper Kinney came on and struck out Charlotte Cloutier to end the threat.
In the home half of the frame, the Sharks added an insurance run. Senior backstop Shannon McMahon opened pulling a double into left field, while Castigliego followed up with a walk. Two batters later after a fly out moved McMahon up 60 feet, she came into score on a ground ball to the right side of the infield.
Coming on in relief, the Monks were unable to touch Kinney. In 2.1 innings Kinney picked up the save allowing just two hits while striking out seven.
SIMMONS HIGHLIGHTS
- Senior right-hander Maddie Castigliego earned her 14th victory of the season, allowing just one earned run, while scattering seven hits and striking out two.
- Castigliego helped her own cause at the plate, going 1-for-2 with a pair of RBI.
- First-year right-hander Piper Kinney came on and pitched 2.1 innings of outstanding relieve, fanning seven of the 10 batters she faced.
- Junior Jordyn Rubin went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI.
UP NEXT
The top seeded Sharks continued on in the winner's bracket and will face the second seed from the South Division, Albertus Magnus College on Saturday, May 6 on the campus of Johnson & Wales in Providence, Rhode Island.