Cara Vennari '12 executed a squeeze bunt in the bottom of the eighth inning to score Katie Puccio '15 from third base and salvage a split for Hamilton College in a non-conference doubleheader against St. Lawrence University at Hamilton's Ferguson Fields on April 18.
Hamilton (7-20 overall) snapped a nine-game losing streak with the 4-3 win in the nightcap. St. Lawrence (16-10) took the opening game 5-4 in 10 innings.
In Game 2, Puccio finished with two triples and a run. Monique St. Jarre '15 singled, doubled and scored a run, and Melissa Kaknis '13 added a double and a run. Ashley Perritt '14 collected two singles and a run, and Jenn Rougeux '14 finished with two hits. Sam Miller '14 added a two-run single.
St. Jarre started in the circle and allowed two earned runs in four innings of work. Amy Appel '13 came on in relief in the top of the fifth inning and surrendered one unearned run in four innings.
Lauren Weisbarth '13 led the Saints' offense with three hits, including a triple, scored two runs and drove in one. Aisha O'Connor '15 finished with two hits and a run, and Chelsea Cavellier '13 drove in a run. Elizabeth McGinley '13 singled twice, and Chelsea Hanno '12, Caroline Kieltyka '14 and Rebecca Allen '14 each added a single. Kyle Plimpton '15 pitched all eight innings and suffered the loss.
With one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, Puccio ripped a triple to left-center field. After swinging through a strike on the first pitch, Vennari put down a bunt to the right side of the circle that allowed Puccio to score the winning run from third.
Hamilton took the lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. Perritt led off with an infield single and moved to third on a fielder's choice off the bat of St. Jarre that was misplayed in the infield. With runners on second and third, Miller lined a single into right field for a 2-0 lead.
St. Lawrence pulled even in the top of the third inning when O'Connor reached on a bunt single to lead off and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Leslie Stratton '14. Weisbarth followed with a single to score O'Connor, and Weisbarth advanced all the way to third on a throwing error. Cavallier lifted a sacrifice fly to left field to cap the inning.
The Continentals took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Kaknis doubled to left field to lead off, moved to third on a pop-up in foul territory to the first baseman and scored on a passed ball.
The Saints responded with a run in the top of the fifth inning to pull even again. Weisbarth led off with a single and moved to second on Cavallier's sacrifice bunt. McGinley's ground ball was misplayed in the infield and the error allowed Weisbarth to score.
Miller smashed a three-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning, but the runs were disallowed when the umpire ruled that Miller's re-entry into the game was not recorded. Miller was removed for a pinch-runner in the bottom of the first inning, and because there were two outs when she hit the home run, the runs did not count.
In Game 1, Cavellier finished with a single, double, triple and scored a run to lead the Saints' offense. Weisbarth had three hits, including a triple, and scored a run. Stratton added a double and an RBI, McGinley singled and drove in a run, and Caroline Kieltyka '14 singled.
McGinley started in the circle and surrendered eight hits and four earned runs in 5.1 innings of work. Plimpton came on in relief in the bottom of the sixth inning and allowed two hits the rest of the way. Plimpton walked one batter and struck out seven.
Ellie Kiernan '15 was a perfect 4-for-4 to pace the Continentals' offense. Kiernan drove in two runs and scored another. Miller smacked a double and a triple, and Perritt added a single and two runs batted in. Summer Bottini '14, Rougeux and Puccio posted one single apiece, and Puccio scored a run. Kaknis finished with two walks and a run. Kelly Leonard '15 pitched all 1o innings and suffered the loss. Leonard walked one batter and struck out nine.
Because of tiebreaker rules, each team began their respective half of the 10th inning with a runner on second base. O'Connor began the inning on second base for the Saints and moved to third on Stratton's sacrifice bunt. Cavellier followed with a double to left field that scored O'Connor.
St. Lawrence took the lead with three unearned runs in the top of the third inning. White reached on an error to lead off and moved to second on O'Connor's sacrifice bunt. Stratton doubled to right field to bring home White, and Cavellier followed with a single to center. Kieltyka singled to load the bases and Weisbarth capped the inning with a single through the right side that scored Cavellier and Stratton.
Kiernan reached on a one-out single in the bottom half of the inning and later came around to score on Perritt's double to pull Hamilton within 3-1. The Continentals took a 4-3 lead with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Miller led off with a double and Kaknis drew a walk. Two batters later, Puccio drew a walk to load the bases for Kiernan, who followed with a two-run single that scored Miller and Kaknis. Perritt capped the inning with a single that scored Puccio.
Hamilton travels to SUNY Oswego for a non-conference doubleheader on Monday, April 23, at 3:30 p.m.
