The St. Lawrence Saints scored in just one inning on Sunday, but that was enough to take one of two games from the Red Hawks.
RPI scattered 15 hits in game one but still lost 5-4. The two runs scored by the Red Hawks early looked like they were going to be enough for Shannon Smith, who has been outstanding for Rensselaer this season, but she beaned Katie Mahoney, the Saints’ eight-hitter, with a 1-2 count to start the sixth inning. This touched off a flood—St. Lawrence put together three singles and three doubles for five runs.
The Red Hawks came right back with two in the bottom of the sixth, but St. Lawrence threatened again in the last frame with two runners in scoring position, one out, and the Saints’ cleanup hitter Michelle Circelli at the plate. Smith and Circelli battled for over 15 pitches before Circelli bounced to shortstop Stacy Eisenman, who easily threw out the runner advancing from third.
A double by Megan Porter with no outs looked as if it would tie the game, but Leanna Smith was thrown out at the plate, and a couple of sharp shots at the Saints’ shortstop shut the door for RPI.
Two plays in the game stand out as particularly key. The first is Porter’s double—Leanna Smith read the hit poorly and held up for a while between first and second. Head Coach Erika Lewis also made a questionable decision in sending her in, especially since RPI would have had runners at second and third with no outs.
The Red Hawks have had five runners thrown out at the plate in their last four home games; only one of these was particularly close.
The other key point came in the RPI fourth. With one run in, one out, and runners at the corners, centerfielder Liz Vitaliano came to the plate. She hit a ground ball to the shortstop, who took the out at second herself. Vitaliano appeared to beat out the ensuing throw to first, but was rung up by the umpire to end the inning without the Red Hawks scoring again.
Rensselaer continued to hit the ball in game two, but Ali O’Connor shut down the Saints, pitching a three-hit shutout to give the Red Hawks a 6-0 victory. Vitaliano went a combined five-for-seven with two RBI in both games and was named the UCAA Player of the Week.
The Red Hawks went on to take two games from the Russell Sage Gators Tuesday afternoon, winning 5-1 and 10-4. Shannon Smith took a perfect game into the last inning in game one before surrendering two hits and a single run.
RPI finishes its regular season this weekend with doubleheaders at SUNY-Albany and Rochester. If the Red Hawks sweep the Yellowjackets on Sunday, they will clinch the UCAA title.
