St. John Fisher Earns Commanding Wins over Pitt-Bradford and Medaille
The St. John Fisher College softball team took two games in Tucson, Ariz. on Wednesday, with commanding shutout victories over Pitt-Bradford and Medaille. Fisher is now 5-3-0 on the season, with all three losses coming to No. 9 Coe College during the Tucson Invitational.
Fisher controlled every aspect of both games and used early leads to implement the mercy rule, which cut the contests short at five innings each.
Game One: Fisher 14, Pitt-Bradford 0
Fisher scored its first runs of the day in the second inning after freshman Meghan Burns blasted a ball over the center field wall for her first career home run. The first-year player earned two RBI on the hit, as Carissa Carlson had reached after drawing a walk.
With the score 2-0 in the fourth inning, the Cardinals doubled their lead with Burns again bringing in a run, this time scoring Jennifer Martin on a single to left field. Kelly Jones added Fisher’s fourth run just an at-bat later, sending a shot up the middle to score Megan Rogers from second base to make the Cardinal lead 4-0.
But the top of the fifth inning was where the Cardinals went to work, accumulating 10 runs to put the game out of the reach of the Panthers. The inning started with Fisher’s first three batters reaching on two errors and a walk to load the bases for Carlson. The senior then drew her second walk of the game, scoring Megan Zoerb from third base. With the bases still loaded, Martin hit a single to left field bringing Kayla Goodberlet across the plate.
A passed ball by the Pitt-Bradford catcher allowed Fisher’s third run of the inning to cross the plate, while a Jones fly ball gave Fisher an 8-0 lead. Fisher batted around the cycle to bring Zoerb, who led-off the inning, back to the plate and the senior came through, doubling up the middle to score Burns and Martin and advance Jennifer Vanek to third.
Vanek would then score on a passed ball, while Goodberlet hammered a single to right field to score Zoerb. Leanne Merchant stepped up to the plate with a runner on first and crushed her third home run of the season to finish out the Cardinal scoring.
Cardinal pitcher Danielle Leone, who earned her second shutout of the season, nearly pitched a perfect game after going four and a third innings without a mark; but in that last inning Pitt-Bradford’s pitcher Sydney Mosby picked up a single to end the bid. The Cardinal shortstop Jones did all she could to keep the pursuit alive by making a great stop on the ball, however she didn’t have time to make a throw to first base.
Burns went a perfect 2-for-2 at the plate totaling three RBI in the contest while drawing a walk. Vanek had three hits in four at-bats, while Carlson drew two walks and had a hit.
Game Two: Fisher 20, Medaille 0
The Cardinals second game of the evening picked-up where the first let off, as Fisher scored an astounding 11 runs in its first inning in a 20-0 win against Medaille on Wednesday night. Fisher saw 15 batters come up to the plate in the inning with Vanek, Burns and Merchant getting hits on both their trips of the inning.
With Vanek and Burns on base, Martin opened the scoring with a triple to left center that cleared the bases. Merchant followed with a ground-rule double, sending Martin across the plate. Carlson then brought Merchant in on a single. Outfielder Michelle Townsend hit a one-out base knock, but Medaille unsuccessfully attempted to throw her out on first, which ended up being an errant throw to allow Carlson to score Fisher’s fifth run of the inning.
With two outs, Vanek brought Cardinal captain Shelby Marie across the plate and Burns then scored Townsend. An error by the Panther shortstop allowed Vanek to score and Merchant hit her second home run of the day, a three-run shot that cleared the bases.
Fisher added insurance runs in all but the second inning, with Krista Robarge picking up two RBI, and Marie and Sarah Fordyce each adding one in the third.
Kaylee Tallman doubled in the fourth to score Jessica D’Angelo and eventually crossed home plate herself on a passed ball.
Rogers, Tallman and Fordyce then combined to push across another three runs for Fisher, as the team went into the bottom of the fifth with the twenty-run cushion.
Sarah Stefanon earned the win for Fisher, while first-year teammates Lauren Wesolowski, Rachel Angell and Hillary Panek all saw time at the mound.
Merchant led the Cardinals with four RBI, while seven Fisher teammates totaled multiple in the contest.
Fisher will play its last games of the Tucson Invitational on Thursday when it matches up with the same two teams again. The Cardinals will face Pitt-Bradford at 6 p.m. (EST) and will follow with an 8 p.m. (EST) tilt with Medaille.