STANDISH, ME - Saint Joseph's (12-4, 4-2 GNAC) split a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) softball doubleheader with Rivier University (4-8, 2-2 GNAC) at Richard W. Bailey Field on Thursday afternoon. The Monks fell, 5-3, in the opener and responded with a 10-2, mercy-rule victory over the Raiders in the nightcap.

GAME ONE

The Monks fell victim to the long ball in the opener, as senior catcher Marissa Mercier (N. Smithfield, R.I.) launched a two-run blast in the top of the first and junior third baseman Kirstie Clark (Brentwood, N.H.) slammed a two-run shot in the third to provide the Raiders with a 4-0 cushion.

Saint Joseph's responded with two runs with two out in the bottom of the fourth when freshman first baseman Melissa Mayhew (Hiram, Maine) played a pair with a sharp single to left field, but Rivier made it a 5-2 contest when Nicole Peacock (Warwick, R.I.) doubled and later scored on a wild pitch in the top of the fifth.

The Monks continued to push forward with a run off a Connie Grovo (Limington, Maine) base knock in the bottom of the fifth, cutting the deficit to 5-3. St. Joe's had two runners on in both the sixth and seventh frames, but stranded all four baserunners.

Grovo led the SJC offense by going 4-4 with a run and an RBI and Mayhew added two hits in three trips with a pair of RBI in the loss. Junior pitcher Rae-Marie Copan (Newton, Mass.) suffered the setback after allowing five runs off seven hits with seven strikeouts in seven innings.

Mercier was 3-4 with two runs and two RBI and Peacock went 2-3 with two runs for the Raiders and Rivier starter Libby Sammon (Rockland, Mass.) picked up the win in the circle after allowing three runs off nine hits and four walks with three K's over seven frames.

GAME TWO

The nightcap looked to be a see-saw affair as the Monks and Raiders swapped runs in the first frame, but the complexion of the game quickly changed when the hosts scored four runs off four hits in the bottom of the second. Senior center fielder Danyelle Shufelt (Sutton, Vt.) recorded an RBI single, junior shortstop Lindsay Moore (Barrington, N.H.) walked with the bases loaded and junior left fielder Theresa Hendrix (Scarborough, Maine/Cheverus) drove in a pair with a single through the right side to lift the Monks to a 5-1 cushion.

St. Joe's proceeded to tack on a run off a Kim Jordan (Bangor, Maine) sac fly in the third and added two more runs in the fourth when freshman Alyssa Wade (Peru, Maine) drove a double to right field, making it an 8-1 contest.

Rivier responded by scoring a run in the fifth, but Saint Joseph's went on to notch the mercy-rule triumph when Grovo and Moore tallied RBI doubles in the bottom of the fifth.

Offensively, Shufelt went 3-4 with two runs and an RBI, Moore was 3-3 with two runs, two doubles and two RBI, Hendrix contributed two hits, a two-bagger and three RBI, and Wade went 3-3 with two runs, two doubles and a pair of runs batted in.

Senior pitcher Kayla Vannah (Waldoboro, Maine) picked up the victory after yielding two runs off five hits and a pair of walks with four K's in five innings.

Mercier and Sahara Brown (Barnstead, N.H.) punched two hits apiece for the Raiders and Sammon suffered the loss after allowing six runs off eight hits and two free passes in three innings of work.

With the split, Saint Joseph's improves to 11-4 in the history of the series with Rivier University.

Saint Joseph's resumes play on Saturday when the Royal Blue plays host to GNAC-rival Lasell College in a twinbill slated to begin at 12:00 PM.