SOFTBALL DROPS TWO AGAINST ROANOKE & DOMINICAN

THE BASICS 

Scores: Roanoke College, 10; Emmanuel College, 4
            Dominican University, 3; Emmanuel College, 2
Records: Roanoke College Maroons (7-1); Emmanuel College Saints (3-5); Dominican University Stars (5-3)
Location: Kissimmee, Fla. – Hancock Park
Date: Thursday, March 7, 2019

THE LEAD: The Emmanuel College softball team dropped a pair of non-conference games Thursday morning in Day 4 action of the NTC Spring Games at Hancock Park. The Saints fell in the opener to Roanoke College, 10-4, before dropping a 3-2 decision to Dominican University in the second game of the morning.

HOW IT HAPPENED (Roanoke)

• The Maroons built an early 4-0 lead with four runs in the first and never looked back.
• Roanoke continued to add to the lead in the second and third inning with two runs in the second and three more in the third to make it a 9-0 game midway through the action.
• Despite the large deficit, the Saints continued to fight and got on the board in the fourth with a towering two-run blast to centerfield by junior outfielder Yuleska Ramirez-Tejeda (Cambridge, Mass.) to make it 9-2.
• The Maroons got one back with a run in the top of the fifth to put the game at 10-2 heading into the bottom of the frame but once against the Saints kept the game alive as senior shortstop Audrey Esakoff (Ventura, Calif.) belted a two-run homer to right center to make it 10-4.
• Both team's bats went quiet over the final two frames as Roanoke held on for the 10-4 victory to improve to 7-1 on the year.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS (Roanoke)

• EC freshman third baseman Renae Lacroix (Cumberland, R.I.) finished the game going 2-for-3 at the plate while senior first baseman Ashley Skey (Brookline, N.H.) went 1-for-2 while drawing two walks.
• Roanoke senior pitcher Emily Salsberry picked up the win going five innings while striking out eight while senior Courty Oliver tossed the final two frames to preserve the win, allowing no hits to go along with two strike outs.

HOW IT HAPPENED (Dominican)

• Emmanuel jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with a run in the first as senior Olivia Burgos (Newington, Conn.) led off with a walk and came around to score on a double-steal with Lacroix to give EC lead the 1-0 lead.
• The lead would hold until the sixth inning when Emmanuel plated a second run as senior catcher Casey Sheehan (Medway, Mass.) reached on a single and came around to score with the help of a Stars error to give the Saints a 2-0 cushion.
• The advantage was short-lived as Dominican tied the game in the bottom of the sixth with two runs. The Stars loaded the bases and got the help of an EC wild pitch and an error to make it 2-2 heading into the final frame.
• EC was able to get the go-ahead run on base in the seventh but a baserunning blunder prevented Emmanuel from getting the run into scoring position.
• The Stars made the Saints pay in the bottom half of the frame by taking advantage of two more errors to plate an unearned run for the 3-2 walk-off victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

• EC junior outfielder Sarah Hoisl (West Hartford, Conn.) finished the game going 2-for-3 at the plate.
• Senior pitcher Megan Kieselback (Wethersfield, Conn.) was the tough-luck loser in the circle, allowing the three runs (one earned) on seven hits over 6.1 innings of work while striking out nine.
• Allyson Dilday notched the win for Dominican going the distance, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out six to improve to 2-0 on the season.

UP NEXT

• EC is back in action tomorrow for its final two games of the Spring Break trip, taking on Adrian at 1:00 PM and Wittenberg at 4:00 PM.