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CLERMONT, Fla. (March 7) – Senior pitcher
Emily Duerr tossed a three-hit shutout in a 7-0 victory over New England College as the Saint Vincent softball team split on their final day at the annual PFX Spring Games at Hancock Park.
Game One Recap - Saint Vincent 7, New England College 0
Duerr was in complete control from the outset, tossing a complete game shutout over the Pilgrims. Duerr allowed just three hits, while striking out a career-high 10 batters and walking none.
Saint Vincent got on the board in the bottom of the first, taking advantage of a leadoff walk to junior
Kelly Flaherty, who came around to score on an RBI double by senior
Shelby Noel.
The Bearcats tacked on a second run in the second inning when
Morgan Murphy laid down a sacrifice bunt that brought in
Victoria Culver after a throwing error by the Pilgrims.
Duerr helped herself with an RBI single in the third inning to make the score 3-0 in favor of the Bearcats. SVC doubled its lead with a three-spot in the fourth inning. Noel added another RBI with a groundout to score senior
Morgan Murphy.
Lauren Miller and Duerr then added RBI singles to push the lead to 6-0 after four innings.
Freshman
Alona Sleith closed out the scoring with a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth. The blast was the fourth of the week for the reigning PAC Rookie of the Week.
Noel paced the SVC offense with a 2-for-4 performance, a double and two RBI. Flaherty scored two runs, while Duerr and Sleith each added two hits in the victory.
Game Two Recap - Ursinus 9, Saint Vincent 4
In the final game of the trip against Ursinus College, Sleith drew an RBI walk to score
Rachel Harenchar, giving SVC a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. The Bears responded with three runs on four hits in the bottom of the opening inning, taking a 3-1 edge.
UC added two runs to make it 5-1 in the bottom of the second, as a fly ball for the potential third out was lost in the sun. After a two-out double by Sleith, UC returned the favor, throwing a wild pitch and then committing an error to allow SVC to cut the deficit to 5-2.
After the Bears tacked on another run,
Morgan Rittenhouse singled and scored on an RBI single by Flaherty to make the score 6-3. SVC would inch closer when
Erica Smiley scored Sleith on a sacrifice fly to make it 6-4. However, the Bearcats would strand another potential run in scoring position. UC would tack on three more runs in the sixth to complete the scoring.
Sleith finished up her torrid week at the plate with another strong performance, reaching base all four times. Sleith closed the week with a .526 batting average (10-for-19), including four home runs. She recorded 11 RBI, 23 total bases and maintained a .652 on-base percentage. Miller added two hits to help with the offense.
The Bearcats finished the Florida trip with a 5-3 overall record. The loss dropped NEC to 1-6, while Ursinus moved to 3-3 overall.
Saint Vincent returns to action with a non-conference doubleheader at Juniata College on Tuesday, March 13. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
