EAST BOSTON - The Suffolk softball team split a pair of games against GNAC opponent the University of St. Joseph (Conn.) Saturday afternoon at East Boston Memorial Park as the Rams rallied to take a 6-5 win thanks to a walk-off single by freshman Jill Pulek after falling short, 3-1 in the first contest of the day.
GAME ONE: USJ 3, SUFFOLK 1
In the first stanza of Saturday's doubleheader, Suffolk gave up an early lead, falling behind 3-0, and fell just short of a comeback as the Bluejays walked away with the 3-1 victory.
St. Joseph first got on the board in first inning when freshman Rachel Dube hit an RBI single to bring in sophomore Sarah Ercoli. Two innings later, pitcher Patti Sciglimpaglia homered to knock in Ercoli once again and take the 3-0 lead.
Suffolk knocked the Bluejays' lead to two in the bottom of the sixth inning when sophomore Devlin Frost knocked in freshman Karina Miranda on an error by the shortstop, Ercoli, but failed to continue the comeback as St. Joseph took the Rams down in the seventh to seal the win.
The loss pushed pitcher Ali Yamakaitis to 8-4 on the season. At the plate, Meredith Ball, McKenzie McGrath and Morgan Parmeter all recorded hits for Suffolk.
GAME 2: SUFFOLK 5, USJ 4
With the score tied at five heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, Pulek hit a walk-off single to bring home Miranda and edge the Bluejays, 5-4 in the second leg of the afternoon's doubleheader.
St. Joseph got the scoring started early yet again as Patti Sciglimpaglia knocked in Morgan Skoly on a pop-up to left field. Suffolk answered in the bottom half of the inning when Frost sent Ball in on a ground-rule double to tie the score at one.
The Bluejays came back in the top of the third to score two runs on back-to-back Suffolk errors in the same play. Pulek responded with a homerun in the bottom half of the third to cut the St. Joseph lead to one before Patti Sciglimpaglia stole home in the top of the fifth to go back up by two.
The Rams battled back later in the inning as Delaney Sylvester hit a three-run homerun to center field to gain control of the lead for the first time all game. St. Joseph answered yet again when Dube hit an RBI double to score Ercoli and tie the score at five until Pulek's RBI single in the bottom of the seventh sent Suffolk home with the win.
The victory marked junior pitcher Kim Crucioli of the season and improved the Rams' record to 23-7 overall and 12-4 in GNAC play.
Suffolk will be back in GNAC action tomorrow afternoon as it hosts St. Joseph's (Me.) in another doubleheader to close out the weekend.