The softball season is heating up, with teams settling in and building momentum as they find their rhythm on the field. St. Bonaventure (7-14) proved to be a few steps ahead of the Red (16-15, 2-2 Ivy) in this process yesterday, taking two games from Cornell by the scores of 7-1 and 1-0, and pushing its winning streak to six games.
The Bonnies made a statement early on, putting three runs on the board in the bottom of the first inning with two outs.
“It’s really hard to come back when they score early,” said freshman outfielder Samantha Hare. “It’s hard to get the momentum going. [Their pitching] was hittable, we just couldn’t hit.”
The Red got its only run of the game in the top of the fourth inning, when Hare drove in junior Caitlin Warren with a sacrifice fly to right field. Cornell only got three hits from St. Bonaventure’s Brianna Bricker, who earned the win on the mound.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Bonnies used three straight bunt singles to load the bases. Bonnie Laurie Stone then hit the ball to right center to bring home two runners, making the score 6-1. The Red hurt itself, allowing another run on a passed ball, and the Bonnies used a sacrifice fly to bring in another runner. Freshman Jenna Campagnolo finally put a stop to the St. Bonaventure run when she earned the third out with a diving catch to grab a fly ball off the bat of Ashley Bonnetto. But the 7-1 advantage proved to be insurmountable for the Red.
Freshman Jen Lesczinski pitched five innings and took the loss for the Red, giving up seven runs on nine hits. This showing gives her a 2-4 record for the season. Junior Whitney Smith stepped in for one inning of relief, walking one batter and giving up no hits.
“We played really well against Princeton [last weekend],” Hare said. “We weren’t at that level today. We have to get past these games and focus on this past weekend and get back to how we were playing [against Princeton].”
But the Red refused to roll over in the second game despite the disappointing outcome of the opener.
Freshman Jenn Meunier took over pitching duties for the Red in the final game. The rookie gave up consecutive hits in the first inning, but managed to throw her way out of a two-on, one-out situation to keep the score knotted at zero.
With St. Bonaventure runners on second and third in the bottom of the third inning, Meunier again used her pitching skills to get Bonnetto to ground out to Warren at third base.
The teams played an even game up to the fourth inning, when St. Bonaventure’s Caitlin Grattan stepped to the plate with two outs and hit an RBI single to right field to put the Bonnies up, 1-0. This would prove to be all the host team needed for the win.
Cornell threatened to tie the game in the top of the seventh, with two runners on base and two outs. But Christine Keleher stayed strong on the mound for the Bonnies, forcing Hare to groundout to shortstop.
In the tightly contested game, Meunier gave up one run on five hits, while Keleher allowed only four hits in the shutout.
Archived article by Olivia Dwyer
Sun Assistant Sports Editor