Springfield, Mass. – Sarah Beliveau and Jillian Bedard each tossed complete games to lead American International College to a doubleheader sweep of the Le Moyne College softball team on Tuesday afternoon. The Yellow Jackets won the Northeast-10 Conference Southwest Division contest, 4-0, and recorded an 8-1 win in the non-conference game.
In the opening game, the Yellow Jackets scored all four of their runs with two outs in the second inning following a Le Moyne error. Designated player Jess Lingenberg singled up the middle with two outs, moved to second on a single through the right side by right fielder Ashley Hughes and took third as center fielder Lydia DePina was hit by a pitch. Second baseman Sarah Baganz then reached on a throwing error by the second baseman, which allowed Lingenberg and Hughes to score. Left fielder Kristen Steele then singled up the middle to drive in DePina and Baganz.
Freshman
Peyton Bellrose (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) suffered her fourth loss in five appearances after yielding four unearned runs and five hits over six innings, while striking out two. Beliveau struck out six over seven scoreless innings, while scattering five hits.
American International started the scoring in the second game with a run on two hits in the first inning. Baganz led off with a double to right field, took third on a sacrifice bunt by Steele and scored on a single down the left field line by shortstop Yami Lopez-Perez.
Le Moyne evened the score at one in the second inning with a pair of hits. Senior center fielder
Sabrina Riley (Deer Park, N.Y./Deer Park) singled down the left field line with one out and came around to score on a triple down the right field line by sophomore shortstop
Lauren Zazzaro (Southington, Conn./Southington).
The Yellow Jackets exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the fifth on eight hits and one Le Moyne error. Pinch-hitter Alyssa Sharkey was hit by a pitch with one out and was replaced at first base by Hughes. After Bedard singled through the right side, Baganz singled up the middle to drive in Hughes with the winning run. Following a single up the middle by Steele to load the bases, Lopez-Perez singled up the middle to knock in Bedard and Baganz. Designated player Alexa DiLeo then singled down the right field line to plate Steele. Beliveau followed with a pinch-hit single to third base to drive in Lopez-Perez with the fifth run of the inning. Catcher Kaley Kempf followed with a single up the middle to knock in DePina and Kayla Riley, who ran for DiLeo and Beliveau, respectively.
Junior
Alexis Eastman (Endicott, N.Y./Union-Endicott) took the loss after allowing seven runs and seven hits over four and one-third innings in the circle, while striking out three. Riley and Zazzaro each had two of Le Moyne's six hits in the game. Bedard allowed one run and six hits over seven innings to earn the win, while striking out one.
Le Moyne (18-13, 2-6 NE, 1-5 SW), which lost to American International four times in the last seven days after only dropping four of the previous 16 matchups, returns home to host Pace University on Friday with a doubleheader beginning at 12:00 p.m.
