By KYLE ADAMS
Staff Writer
If the Saint Rose Softball team was going to partake in the 2017 NE10 playoffs, two things had to happen. They needed to sweep the Southern Connecticut Owls in their three-game series. Saint Rose also needed some help from New Heaven, who would have needed to beat LeMoyne once, in three games, in order for Saint
Rose to pass LeMoyne in the division standings.
Instead what happened is LeMoyne swept the division leader, New Heaven, knocking them down to third place in the NE10 Southwest Division, with Adelphi and Pace taking advantage. LeMoyne clinched a spot in the playoffs, after Saint Rose dropped their first game to the Southern Connecticut.
In the weekend series, the Golden Knights took one out of the three games. The story of Game One was errors, on from both teams, and Southern Connecticut’s bats. There were five total errors in the game, three belonging to Saint Rose, two belonging to Southern, who also outhit Saint Rose 11–4.
In the sixth inning, Kayla Bancroft gave the Golden Knights some life with a monster home run to center field; Bancroft also doubled and walked in the game. Saint Rose threatened in the bottom of the seventh, but the Owls were able to escape Game One by a score of 6–3, ending the Golden Knights’ chances at making the playoffs.
Game Two was a different story for Saint Rose. As they say, all it takes is one mistake to ruin the box score. That’s what happened for Dana Nicoletti, the starting pitcher in the second game. In the third inning Bryanna McIntosh hit a three – run home run off Nicoletti, which accounted for all of Southern’s runs for the game.
Nicoletti held the Owls to only one other hit outside of the third inning; the first, second, fourth and fifth innings all being perfect.
The home run in the third gave Saint Rose a 3–1 deficit to climb out from.
In the fifth, pinch–hitter Elizabeth Jones doubled in Katie Shevlin to bring the score to 3–2. In the sixth, Shevlin drew a bases-loaded walk, to tie the game.
Nicoletti followed with a single over the shortstop’s head to bring in the go-ahead run. In an interesting seventh inning, which included the umpires reversing a blown call, Nicoletti was able to escape a jam and the Golden Knights prevailed in Game Two.
On Saturday, the Owls and Golden Knights finished off their three-game series. Saturday’s game is what one would call a batter’s duel.
Through five innings, the Owls had a commanding 9–3 lead. Jadyn Costello accounted for Saint Rose’s runs, with a three–run home run.
In the sixth, Saint Rose added another run and in the seventh added on three more. In her final at bat at Saint Rose, senior Carly Wood had an RBI triple and kept Saint Rose alive in the game. Roma Mazzariello followed Wood with an RBI single.
It was not enough, though, as the Golden Knights fell by a score of 9–7 in their final game of the season.
Saint Rose finished the season with an overall record of 11–24, a record of 9–13 in the NE10 and a record of 8–10 in the Southwest Division.
