NEW HAVEN, Conn. The American International College softball team rallied twice to complete a sweep of Southern Connecticut State University on the road in Northeast-10 Conference action Sunday afternoon. The Yellow Jackets came from behind to beat the Owls in game one, 4-3, and used a monster five-run fifth to help win game three of the weekend, 8-6.
With the win AIC improves to 14-12 overall, 7-6 in the Northeast-10, and 4-5 in the Southwest Division.
The Yellow Jackets fell behind 2-0 early off an Owl homerun, but starting pitcher Jillian Bedard (Meriden, Conn.) settled down from there. After four scoreless innings, AIC helped out Bedard with a three-run fifth. With one out, senior Jenna Costa (Turners Falls, Mass.) drew a walk followed by freshman Kaley Kempf (Oxford, Conn.) taking a pitch and first base. Both runners advanced into scoring position on a passed ball from Owl starter Audrey Dolloff.
Sophomore designated hitter Jamie Mainez (Redlands, Calif.) stepped up with two-on and one out and roped one to center field, plating both Costa and Riley and knotting the game at two apiece. Senior Lyndsey Letourneau (Paxton, Mass.) took over for Mainez on second where classmate Jorrdin Miller (Garfield, N.J.) sent her home with an RBI double to left.
AIC junior pitcher Alyssa Camargo (Covina, Calif.) spotted Bedard in the bottom of the fifth and the first five Owls she faced, but the sixth in the bottom of the sixth, Samantha Groskritz, went yard, a solo shot over the left field wall to tie it at three heading into the final frame.
Needing just a run to retake the lead, Costa, in the leadoff spot, reached on an infield error. Freshman Kayla Riley (Haverhill, Mass.) laid down a sacrifice bunt to send Costa into scoring position. Kempf proved the hero, posting a two out single to right field to plate Costa and give the Jackets a chance for a win on the shoulders of Camargo. The junior righty came through, allowing zero base runners and shutting the door on SCSU in game two of the weekend series.
DiLeo registered the only multi-hit game for AIC, going 2-3, while Costa scored a pair of runs. With the win Camargo moves to 8-5 on the season.
In the weekend finale, Southern Connecticut busted out to a 5-1 lead with only a Mainez homer in the fourth on the board for AIC.
With two outs in the sixth and Miller on first, sophomore Alexa DiLeo (Cheshire, Conn.) singled, the first of six straight AIC singles. Bedard knocked a pinch-hit single to plate Miller. Senior Ainslee Penfield (Greenfield, Mass.) pinch-hit singled to score Anisa Chaudhry (Cheshire, Conn.) who pinch-ran for DiLeo. Freshman Ashley Hughes (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.), Costa and Riley singled to knock in the fifth run of the inning and give AIC a 6-5 lead.
Bedard stayed in the game to replace Beliveau on the mound. The Owls pulled even with an unearned run in the home half of the inning. SCSU had two on with two outs, but Bedard got Leanna Freerick to pop up to Riley at short stop and end the threat. AIC committed three errors in the inning and the two headed into the final inning knotted at six apiece.
Bedard plated the go-ahead run in the visitor half of the seventh, sending Letourneau home. Hughes added an insurance run, singling to center to plate DiLeo. Bedard closed it out with a one-two-three seventh to complete the sweep. She picked up her third win of the season, moving to 3-4 for the year.
AIC smacked around 16 hits led by Miller and Hughes with three hits apiece. Bedard, Costa, DiLeo and Riley all recorded multi-hit games for the Jackets.
The Yellow Jackets return to action Monday, April 11 for a pair of road games at Merrimack College. First pitch with the Warriors is slated for 3 p.m.
