Softball Falls Twice to Purple Knights in Colchester

April 29, 2007              Game 1 Box             Game 2 Box

Saint Michael's took a pair of games from Bryant on a cold, drizzly Sunday afternoon in Colchester, Vermont. After losing a squeeker 4-3 in the first game, the Bulldogs were handled easily in the nightcap, 7-2. The pair of losses drops the team's record to 17-9, tied in the loss column with UMass-Lowell, who Bryant defeated twice a week and a half ago.

Junior Janine Enos (Wareham, Mass.) lost a pitching duel to Knights' starter Meggan Roberge in the first game of the doubleheader. The Bulldogs jumped out early on a two-run home run by Amanda Wilbur (Lakeville, Mass.) in the first inning.

 However, the Bulldogs could not hold the lead. Back-to-back home runs by Meg Currier and Ashley Harkins in the second inning tied the game up, and a Lindsey Howland lead off homer in the third put the Knights ahead.

The Bulldogs rallied in the seventh, when Ashley Coon (Fairless Hills, PA) drove in pinch-runner Kimberly Breton (Leominster, Mass.).  The Bulldogs then put runners on second and third, but Roberge got Amanda Gagne (Wilbraham, Mass.) to pop up to end the threat. In the bottom of the inning, Roberge led off the inning with a single and was pinch-run for by Katelyn Billings who got to third on a throwing error by Coon on a pickoff attempt. Heather French then knocked Billings in with an walk-off RBI single.

The Bulldogs would again jump ahead in the first inning in game two, scoring a pair on an error and a Coon RBI double, but the Knights jumped on Bryant starter Anne Dobmeier (Buffalo, NY) for three in the bottom of the inning.  An inning later, Dobmeier was replaced by Nikki Ingalls (Westford, Mass.), but Ingalls couldn't contain the Knights' offense either, as St. Michael's pushed accross two runs in the fourth and fifth to cruise to a 7-1 victory.

The losses dropped the Bulldogs to 17-9 in the Northeast-10 Conference standings, tied in the loss column with UMass-Lowell. The Bulldogs swept the Riverhawks on April 19. The Bulldogs must win at least one against 1-29 Bentley Tuesday to secure the #4 spot in the NE-10 conference tournament.

The Bulldogs will host the Bentley Falcons Tuesday at the Bryant Softball Complex at 3pm in both team's regular season finales.