April 7, 2007

Game 1 Box Score |  Game 2 Box Score

STORRS, Conn. - The Providence College softball team split a BIG EAST Conference at the University of Connecticut Saturday afternoon in Storrs, Conn. After losing the first game, 3-2, the Friars rebounded to capture the second game, 16-5.

In the first game, the Friars (12-14, 3-7 BIG EAST) gained a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning when senior Rachel Bartholomew (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) hit a two-out, two run home run to right field. It marked Bartholomew's team-leading fifth home run of the season. However, it the bottom half of the sixth inning, the Huskies (15-13, 4-5 BIG EAST) regained the lead for good as they scored two runs. Danielle Del Ponte drove in the tying run with a single to right field. Erin Burtner, who came in to pinch run for Del Ponte, eventually came around to score the winning run on a single up the middle by Lauren Cecchi. Tricia Sullivan earned the win as she pitched a complete game, allowed two runs on six hits and struck out five batters. PC senior Sara Surosky (Elmira, N.Y.) took the loss as she allowed three runs on six hits and struck out two batters in five-plus innings of action.

The Friars trailed 1-0 after three innings of the second game, but they rallied to win 16-5. The Friars scored eight runs in the fourth inning to take control of the game, 8-1. PC belted out eight hits in the fourth inning and went around the batting order twice en route to their eight runs. Freshman Christy Becker (San Diego, Calif.), senior Katie Ross (Middleboro, Mass.), sophomore Erin Moran (Wilbraham, Mass.) and junior Samantha Pittman (San Diego, Calif.) each had RBI hits, while Bartholomew capped off the inning with a two-run single. For Moran, it marked her first career RBI.

In the fifth inning, the Huskies cut the lead to 8-5 as they scored four runs, capped off by a two-run single to right center by Cecchi. However, the Friars scored one run in the sixth inning and added seven more runs in the seventh to complete the scoring. Becker drove in two runs with a double, while Ross hit a three-run home run to round out the scoring in the seventh inning. PC sophomore Jennifer Maccio (Huntington, Station, N.Y.) earned her second win of the season as she pitched four-plus innings and struck out one batter. The Friars finished with 17 hits as six different Friars had multiple hits, including three by Bartholomew and Ross. Ross finished with five RBIs in the second game. Becker had two hits and three RBIs, while Pittman recorded a pair of hits and drove in two runs.

The Friars are back in action on Tuesday, April 10 at 2:30 p.m. with a non-conference doubleheader versus Fairfield at PC's Raymond Field.