Softball Splits in Opening Day Doubleheader

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.—The Anna Maria College softball team opened the 2015 season with a win, downing John Jay College 3-1 at the Fastpitch Dream Spring Classic Tournament held in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The AMCATS finished the day at 1-1 as they fell to Gwynedd Mercy 9-0 in second game of the day.

Anna Maria 3, John Jay 1 (Eight Innings)

The AMCATS scored in the second inning, as Justine Lalonde (Shirley, N.Y.) walked, stole second, advanced to third on a groundout by Ashley George (Leicester, Mass.), and ultimately scored as Amanda Lemire (Methuen, Mass.) cranked a single through the right side to tally her first RBI of the season.

Anna Maria would hold John Jay scoreless until the bottom of the seventh inning, when the AMCATS made some costly fielding errors to load the bases with two outs. John Jay's Jessica Zaccari took advantage of the loaded bases and drove in teammate Jennifer Pace on a single.

Anna Maria's Samantha Miller (Dudley, Mass.) made a routine play from third base to end the inning before John Jay could score another run.

The AMCATS broke open the 1-1 tie in the top of the eighth inning. With two outs, Kaitlyn Moran (Leicester, Mass.) reached on an error by the first baseman and advanced to second on a single by Cristina Turley (Waterford, Conn.). With two runners on, Lalonde doubled to score Moran. Anna Maria's next batter, George, added an insurance run for Anna Maria, as her single scored Turley and gave the AMCATS a 3-1 lead.

John Jay sent five batters to the plate in the bottom of the eighth and had runners on first and second with two outs before a fly-out to first base ended the game.

Lalonde finished with three out the AMCATS' eight hits on the game.

Senior pitcher Nichole Lowe (Saugus, Mass.) went the distance for Anna Maria. She gave up nine hits and four walks while striking out six. John Jay pitcher Sara McKenna sacrificed eight hits, two earned runs, and three walks while fanning just one AMCAT batter.

 Gwynedd Mercy 9, Anna Maria 0 (Five Innings)

Gwynedd Mercy scored eight of their runs in the first two innings. In the first inning, Megan Kelly walked, stole second and was batted in on a single. An inning later, the AMCATS made two errors and gave up four hits to allow the Griffins to score seven unearned runs for an 8-0 lead. The Griffins added a final run in the fourth inning

AMCAT junior pitcher Angela Vousboukis (Swampscott, Mass.) took the loss in the circle, sacrificing seven hits, three walks and two earned runs while striking out one.

Gwynedd Mercy senior pitcher Jennifer Whalen held the AMCATS to just two hits in four innings of work. She gave up two walks and struck out six in the win.

The AMCATS are back in action tomorrow in an 11:30 a.m. game against Regis College. The team will also take on Indiana Wesleyan at 1:30 p.m.