April 24, 2005
Box Score
Poughkeepsie, N.Y. - The Marist softball team (20-16, 6-2 MAAC) swept a conference doubleheader from visiting Siena today, taking the opener 5-1 and coming from behind to win the nightcap 5-4. Freshman pitcher Megan Rigos earned both wins while junior DP Bridget Hurlman and sophomore LF Christine Jakobsen each hit home runs in the first game. On a down note, junior 3B Chrystine McHugh had her 27-game hitting streak snapped in the first game. The streak was the longest active run in NCAA Division I and the 11th-longest in NCAA history.
The Red Foxes got off to a quick 2-0 lead in the first game as Hurlman socked her team-leading sixth home run of the year, a two-run shot, over the left field fence with two out in the bottom of the first.
The game remained 2-0 until the top of the fifth when Siena 3B Sarah Rose came up with an RBI infield single to get the Saints on the board. Marist roared back in the bottom of the sixth with three runs, including a leadoff home run from Jakobsen, the first of her career. Freshman 1B Annie Castellano added a two-run single to give the Red and White the final margin of victory.
Starter Megan Rigos had another outstanding outing, giving up just one unearned run on three hits, walking nobody and striking out seven. She became the second pitcher in program history to win 15 games and strike out 100 batters in the same season.
Tara Campbell took the loss for Siena, allowing five runs on six hits and three walks in five-plus innings.
In the nightcap it was the Saints who would score twice in the first, getting a two-run single from Rose, the MAAC's leading hitter at .450 entering play. The Red Foxes started with three consecutive hits off Tisha Salamino, the last of which was a two-run single by junior catcher Jasmery Polanco that scored McHugh and Jakobsen.
After two scoreless frames, Siena took a 4-2 lead in the fourth on CF Jennifer Griner's two-out two-run homer to left off Marist starter Kristen Merlino. That lead would not hold up, however, as the Red Foxes touched Salamino for three runs on four hits in the fifth inning, including Hurlman's game-tying two-run double and Castellano's game-winning RBI single.
Rigos, who relieved Merlino after four innings, tossed three shutout innings of one-hit ball with two strikeouts and no walks to earn her fifth win of the week. She is now 16-10 on the year with a 2.48 ERA. Merlino surrendered four runs, three earned, on five hits and a walk in four innings while fanning three to tie her career high.
Salamino allowed five runs on 11 hits, striking out three in 4 1/3. Siena falls to 18-19 and 4-4 in the MAAC.
Marist will be back in action Wendesday, traveling to St. John's for a doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
