Stephanie Kasson
Stephanie Kasson

Dalton Pitches Saint Anselm Past Bentley Twice, 11-0 & 2-1

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Sophomore Shannon Dalton (Concord, Mass.) authored a five-inning three-hit shutout in the opener and came back to pitch the first six innings of the nightcap as Saint Anselm College swept Bentley University, 11-0 and 2-1, in Northeast-10 Conference softball at Saint Anselm's South Athletic Field Thursday afternoon.

Dalton, who pushed her record to 9-5 with the two wins, fanned six and walked one in the opener, and struck out eight in game two before giving way to freshman Christina Boehm (Stamford, Conn.) in the seventh.

In game two, Saint Anselm took the early lead with a run in the bottom of the second inning. Sophomore catcher Lauren Galavotti (Marion, Mass.) led off with a single up the middle, was sacrificed to second and scored on a single by junior designated player Mary Fay (Stoughton, Mass.).

Bentley answered in its next at bat, staging a two-out rally. Sophomore shortstop Stephanie Kasson (Hyde Park, N.Y./Franklin D. Roosevelt HS) beat out a grounder to first for an infield single, sophomore second baseman Erica Thibodeau (Cohoes, N.Y./Shaker HS) followed with a single to left, and Kasson scored the Falcons' only run of the day on a single to short by junior Meghan Carter (Hudson, Mass./Hudson HS).

The game stayed at 1-1 until the last of the fifth. Senior center fielder Raylyn Glavin (Saugus, Mass.) hit a two-out single up the middle, stole second and scored what proved to be the winning run on a single to left by senior left fielder Kayla McEachern (Stoneham, Mass.).

Bentley threatened in the seventh when sophomore right fielder Afton Dean (Lynn, Mass./Lynn Classical HS) singled to center and took second on a grounder to second. However, Boehn was able to leave her there after getting a game-ending ground out.

Kasson and Thibodeau each had two hits for Bentley in the nightcap.

Saint Anselm took control of the opener with four runs in the third inning and broke it wide open with seven runs in the fourth.

In that third inning, the Hawks received three consecutive extra base hits. Junior second baseman Kat Scafidi (Hudson, N.H.) got it rolling with an RBI double, freshman third baseman Nicole Boucher (Woonsocket, R.I.) followed with a triple and senior first baseman Jackie Giannino (Beverly, Mass.) slammed a two-run homer.

The double loss dropped Bentley to 10-12 overall and 3-9 in the Northeast-10. Saint Anselm, on the other hand, improved to 13-14 overall and 5-7 NE-10.

Bentley is at the University of New Haven Saturday and at Southern Connecticut State for a pair of 12 noon doubleheaders.

 

At Manchester, N.H.

GAME 1: SAINT ANSELM 11, BENTLEY 0

Bentley                000  00  --  0  3  1

Saint Anselm       004  7x  --  11  10  0

B - Tara Fogarty, Lindsey Theriault (4), Deanna Rousseau (4) and Megan Blier; SA - Shannon Dalton and Lauren Galavotti; W - Dalton (8-5); L - Fogarty (9-7); HR - SA, Jackie Giannino (7); 3B - SA, Nicole Boucher; 2B - SA, Kat Scafidi, Galavotti, Mary Fay.

GAME 2: SAINT ANSELM 2, BENTLEY 1

Bentley (10-12, 3-9)            001  000  0  --  1  8  0

St. Anselm (13-14, 5-7)      010  010  x  --  2  5  0

B - Deanna Rousseau, Tara Fogarty (5) and Megan Blier; SA - Shannon Dalton, Christina Boehn (7) and Lauren Galavotti; W - Dalton (9-5); L - Rousseau (0-1); SV - Boehn (2); 2B - B, Stephanie Kasson.