The Suffolk University Softball team swept a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) doubleheader over Anna Maria College on Wednesday afternoon at Popoulo Field in Boston's North End. Suffolk took game one 9-1 before closing out the sweep with a 13-6 victory in the nightcap.
Senior Erin McAndrews (Marblehead, Mass.) was a combined 7-for-9 with five RBI and three runs scored on the afternoon. McAndrews became Suffolk's all-time leaders in hits for a season as she finishes the day with 65 thus far on the year surpassing the previous mark of 60 held by Katie Norton (2000) and Jess Ferreira (2008). McAndrews also collected her ninth triple of the season in game one establishing a new single season program high.
Game One
Suffolk jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second inning when senior Nikki Cignarella (Norwood, Mass.) hit a bases clearing triple for the game's first score. After an infield error would plate another run, McAndrews would cap the inning off with her second base hit of the day to plate junior Sarah Chasse (Salem, Mass.) for Suffolk.
Anna Maria would answer with their lone run of the game in the bottom half of the third inning as junior Cristina Turley (Waterford, Conn.) singled home sophomore Elizabeth Haggerty (Charlton, Mass.). Haggerty led the inning off with a single to left.
McAndrews' third straight single of the day came with one out in the fourth inning as it would be her 61st hit of the season, the new program record. Freshman Kristen Young (Windsor, Conn.) would lead the fourth off drawing a walk before stealing second and advancing to third on McAndrews' base hit. After McAndrews reached safely, Suffolk would implore a double steal bringing Young across home for an insurance run to build a 6-1 lead.
Suffolk would score three more times in the sixth inning. McAndrews would once again put her name in the history books as she tripled home the first run of the inning to bring Chasse across who started the frame with a single. McAndrews' triple in the sixth was her ninth of the year once again surpassing a Jess Ferreira marker.
Sophomore Nicole Isakson (Avon, Conn.) and freshman Emily Martel (East Hartland, Conn.) would each add RBI singles in the sixth to round out the scoring for Suffolk.
Suffolk would put together a 14-hit attack in the opener paced by McAndrews. Three other players also combined for multi hits in the opener as Isakson was 2-for-3, while junior Nicole Rosa (Wallingford, Conn.) and sophomore Meredith Ball (Nahant, Mass.) were each 2-for-4.
Junior Justine Lalonde (Shirley, N.Y.) led a seven hit attack in the opener for the AMCATS going 2-for-3 at the plate.
Freshman Kim Crucioli (North Andover, Mass.) picked up her eighth win of the season on the mound for Suffolk scattering seven singles through six innings of work. She allowed one run while striking out five.
Game Two
Anna Maria jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the second inning. Freshman Ashley George (Leicester, Mass.) opened the scoring when her base hit to leftfield plated a pair of runs for the AMCATS. George would come around later in the inning to score on a botched bunt play.
McAndrews and the Rams would answer in the third as she continued her monster day offensively connecting on a two run homer to right center. It was McAndrews' team leading fifth homer of the season.
Emily Martel homered in the fourth inning, her first career collegiate home run to put Suffolk up 4-3 as part of a six run frame for Suffolk. Ball would lead the inning off with a triple before Martel's go ahead homer. Kristen Young would bring in two more runs with a base hit before a McAndrews double would bring home Nicole Rosa. Freshman Lindsay Pagano (Wyckoff, N.J.) would round out the inning with a single plating McAndrews to make it an 8-3 Suffolk lead through three and a half innings of play.
The AMCATS would answer Suffolk's big inning with one of their own plating three runs in the home half of the fourth. Anna Maria would take advantage of a pair of Suffolk miscues when freshman Alexis Romano (Lowell, Mass.) scored on a misplayed groundball. Sophomore Samantha Miller (Dudley, Mass.) would then drive in a pair of runs with two outs in the inning with a base hit to right to make it an 8-6 contest.
With two outs in the fifth, Suffolk would put together three straight hits to bring three more runs across. Cignarella would connect on her second triple of the afternoon for the first run of the inning, before Young and Rosa each had RBI singles.
The Rams would tack on runs in both the sixth and seventh innings as Crucioli's single in the sixth and Rosa's single in the seventh gave Suffolk some insurance.
Sophomore Paige Stanley (Fair Haven, N.J.) went the distance on the mound for Suffolk. She earns her first victory of the season, in her first complete game as she allowed just one earned run on eight hits and walking none and also striking out three.
Suffolk combined 20 hits in the night cap as the 1-2-3 in the lineup of Young, Rosa and McAndrews were a combined 9-for-14 with eight RBI and five runs scored. Crucioli was also 4-for-4 with a pair of runs scored, while Cignarella and Martel each had a pair of hits.
For Anna Maria, Samantha Miller was 3-for-3 in game with, while freshman KAitlyn Moran (Leicester, Mass.) was also 2-for-4 with a run scored.
The losses move Anna Maria to a 1-15 mark in GNAC play on the season and 3-25 record overall. They will be back in action on Thursday afternoon as they travel to Norwich University for a conference doubleheader with the Cadets beginning at 3:00pm.
Suffolk improves to 14-20 on the year and 6-10 in conference play with Wednesday's victories.
They wrap up the 2014 regular season with three straight home doubleheaders into the upcoming weekend. Suffolk will host Rivier University on Thursday and Emmanuel College on Friday with both starting at 3:30pm followed by a noon matchup with the Albertus Magnus College Falcons on Saturday afternoon.