PRINCESS ANNE, MD. (Feb. 25, 2022) - Freshman Dakota Pitts started her collegiate career with three hits in six at bats to lead the way for the Saint Peter's softball team as they started the 2022 campaign with a pair of losses at the Eastern Shore Classic, dropping the first game to Lafayette College 2-0 before falling 8-3 to host Maryland Eastern Shore Friday.
Top Performers
- Junior Christina Colon twirled a gem and drew a tough luck loss in game one, giving up two runs, one earned, on just five hits while striking out five across 6.0 innings of work as the Peacocks fell to 0-2 on the young season.
- Pitts, in her first action as a Peacock, went 1 for 3 in the first game of the day and followed it up by finishing with a pair of hits in game two notching the lone extra base hit of the day for SPU with a double against the Hawks.
- In the loss against UMES, the Peacocks also had strong offensive production from Sophie Wilson and Maiah Skakal who both recorded RBI singles for the first runs of the 2022 campaign.
- Aubrey Ketcham and Olyvia Smith also produced multiple hits on the day for SPU as Ketcham finished 2 for 5 in her Peacock debut and Smith had a pair of hits in seven ABs.
- Coming on in relief in game two, freshman Kasidy Slusser was also solid in her collegiate debut as she gave up just one earned run over 3.2 innings of work.
Game One Summary
- Lafayette jumped ahead early, scoring in the bottom half of the first on a throwing error following a leadoff walk.
- The Leopards tacked on another run in the second with a leadoff single, a groundout and a sacrifice fly to take a 2-0 lead.
- The Peacocks largest threat came in the top of the third when Cara McNulty led things off with a single and A. Ketchum moved her to third with a two-out single through the right side.
- It was not to be, however, as a pop out ended the inning and the threat for SPU.
- From the second inning on, Colon was dominant in the circle as she allowed just one runner to reach base over her final four innings to keep the Peacocks in the game.
- SPU threatened again in the fifth when Skakal reached on an error and moved into scoring position on a single by Smith, but a flyout ended the inning and kept the Peacocks off the board.
- Lafayette finished things out from there, handing SPU their second straight 2-0 opening day defeat.
Game Two Summary
- The Peacocks made sure game two did not start in similar fashion to game one, jumping on the board early when Wilson ripped an RBI single into right field to plate Smith who led the game off reaching on an error.
- A two-out rally and smart baserunning gave the Peacocks a 2-0 advantage in the second as McNulty reached on a hit-by-pitch and came all the way around to score when A. Ketcham laced a single through the right side and found herself caught in a rundown between first and second.
- Ketcham stayed in the rundown long enough for McNulty to race home, however, and give SPU a two-run lead.
- UMES had their own two-out rally to take the lead in the bottom half as the Hawks got an RBI single, double and triple back-to-back-to-back to score three runs with two outs and make the score 3-2.
- After UMES pushed the lead to 4-2 on a sac fly in the third, the Peacocks answered right back in the top of the fourth when Brandi Feeney led things off with a single and came home to score on an RBI single up the middle from Skakal.
- With the score still 4-3 in the top of the sixth, Pitts stepped to the plate and promptly unloaded a pitch into right center for a two out double and scampered to third one pitch later on a wild pitch.
- The Peacocks were unable to deliver though, stranding Pitts 60 feet from home after a pop out.
- The Hawks broke the game open in the bottom of the sixth, scoring four runs on four hits and three SPU errors to push the score to 8-3 and held on in the seventh to record the win.
From the Dugout (Head Coach Chris Stelma)
- "It's nice to get out there and get things rolling. We had a huge day out of Dakota Pitts. A few big hits today, but not enough to get the job done. We had a great effort in the circle out of Christina Colon in game one as well."
Next Up
- The Eastern Shore Classic continues Saturday when the Peacocks will take on UMES once again at 3:00 p.m.
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