Lady AMCATS nipped by Blue Jays in twin bill

Worcester, Mass. – The Anna Maria College softball team dropped a pair of games to visiting University of Saint Joseph in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action today at New Balance Field. The Blue Jays took game one by a score of 10-3 and the nightcap 16-1 in five innings.

The AMCATS dip to 3-21 (1-11 GNAC) overall while USJ moves to 15-8 on the season and 11-3 in GNAC play.

Game 1: USJ 10, Anna Maria 2

The Blue Jays opened game one with three straight hits to plate two runs.  Junior Sarah Miller and Emily Vigue delivered singles to centerfield to set the table for Patti Sciglimpaglia, who stroked a triple to right-centerfield to score both runners. Sciglimpaglia came home on a sacrifice fly off the bat of senior Ashley Gall for a 3-0 lead after one inning.

Saint Joseph added a pair of runs in both the third and fourth inning to grab a 7-0 advantage.

Anna Maria put two on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning. Freshman Kaitlyn Moran (Leicester, Mass.) produced a 2-RBI single to right field scoring Elizabeth Haggerty (Charlton, Mass.) and Samantha Miller (Dudley, Mass.), who had both drawn walks earlier in the inning.

Saint Joseph added an unearned run in the sixth and two more runs in the top of the seventh for the 10-2 final.

Sciglimpaglia pitched four strong innings for the Blue Jays allowing two earned runs while striking out 8 AMCAT batters for the win. Angela Vousboukis (Swampscott, Mass.) went 3.2 innings for Anna Maria allowing seven runs, while Alexis Romano (Lowell, Mass.) pitched 3.1 innings in relief.

GAME 2: USJ 16, Anna Maria 1

Five different Blue Jays' tallied RBI's to break the game open in the first inning. Gall got things rolling when she doubled to left field scoring Sarah Miller. Mary Sciglimpaglia followed with a 2-RBI single to give USJ a 3-0 lead. Shauna Sullivan, Colleen Ecsedy and Taylor Rogers each posted RBI hits to give the Blue Jays a 7-0 lead after a half inning.

Trailing 8-0 in the bottom of the third inning, AMC's Nicole Lowe (Saugus, Mass.) stoked a single to right field scoring Cristina Turley (Waterford, Conn.) to break-up the shutout.

USJ would capitalize on a defensive miscue and add five runs in the top of the fourth inning, including a 2-run home run off the bat of Ashley Gall. They would add three more runs in the fifth for the 16-1 final.

Lowe was tagged with the loss for Anna Maria, allowing 7 earned runs with a pair of strikeouts. St. Joseph's Emily Vigue went the distance for her third win of the season.

Anna Maria is back in action tomorrow when they travel to Albertus Magnus for a GNAC showdown starting at noon.