Softball Splits on Opening Day in South Carolina

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.—The Anna Maria College softball team finished 1-1 in the opening day of the 2016 season, falling to SUNY Canton 15-4 in game one before rallying for a 10-1 win over Penn State-Harrisburg in the nightcap.

GAME ONE – SUNY CANTON 15, ANNA MARA 4 (FIVE INNINGS)

The AMCATS were plagued by first-game jitters in the season opener, as they committed five errors and scattered 14 hits while connecting for just five of their own hits.

Canton scored nine runs in the first inning alone in seven hits and two errors before the AMCATS settled down, allowing them zero hits in the second and a combined six runs over the bottom of the third and fourth innings.

Anna Maria saw their first hit in the top of the first as Jacqueline Lapierre (Worcester, Mass.) doubled from the No. 2 slot, but the team would not see another hit until the top of the fourth, when they used four hits and two errors to score four runs.

Freshmen Victoria Falco (Marlborough, Mass.), Sabrina Carreira (West Hartford, Conn.) and Kayla Magierowski (Spencer, Mass.) all tallied their first collegiate hits for the AMCATS. Amanda Lemire (Methuen, Mass.) also recorded a hit in the game.

Senior Angela Vousboukis (Swampscott, Mass.) took the loss in the circle for Anna Maria, scattering 15 runs (six earned) on 14 hits and a walk. She struck out one on the day.

Shannon Dowling batted 4-for-4 with four RBI for SUNY Canton.

GAME TWO – ANNA MARIA 10, PENN STATE-HARRISBURG 1 (FIVE INNINGS)

Freshman Ally Hamelin (Greenfield, Mass.) earned her first collegiate victory in the circle for Anna Maria, giving up just one run on five hits with no walks and no strikeouts.

Lapierre batted 2-for-2 with three RBI and a walk to lead the team at the plate.

After a scoreless first inning, the AMCATS scored their first run in the bottom of the second on a series of errors by Penn-Harrisburg that allowed Falco to score from first base.

The AMCATS added three more runs in the bottom of the third as Lapierre doubled to score Lemire and Elizabeth Haggerty (Charlton, Mass.). Lapierre moved to third on a groundout by Magierowski, and then scored on an RBI groundout by Carreira.

With a 4-0 lead, the AMCATS tallied on another six runs in the bottom of the fourth before Penn-Harrisburg mustered a run in the top of the fifth on the strength of an RBI single by Jenna Rupakus.

Haggerty tripled in the victory for the AMCATS, while Careirra and Marissa Pingeton (Worcester, Mass.) also tallied hits.

WHAT'S NEXT

The AMCATS are back in action in South Carolina tomorrow as they take on Penn College at 1:30 p.m. and Casenovia at 3:30 p.m.