Emmitsburg, Md. (March 23, 2012)—Nicole Pagano tossed a one-hit shutout to lead Mount St. Mary's to a 1-0 victory in the opening game of a doubleheader at the Mount's Our Lady of the Meadows Field.  The Mount dropped the second game of the twinbill, 2-0.

Pagano struck out six and allowed just a fifth-inning single to earn the victory in game one.  Quinnipiac pitcher Christy Cabrera matched Pagano throughout the game, carrying a no-hitter into the bottom of the eighth.

The Mount (7-18, 1-1 NEC) was able to break through in the bottom of the eighth when Alyssa Silipino opened the inning with a double to left field.  Kendra Hayward came in to pinch run and promptly advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Alexa Tuck to put the winning run on third with one out.  Hayward then scored the winning run when Bre Lohman grounded to short.  The ball beat Hayward to the plate, but Quinnipiac's catcher could not hold on to the ball on the tag, allowing the winning run to score.

In game two, Quinnipiac's Heather Schwartzburg kept the Mount bats at bay as she tossed a three-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts.

Pagano started game two for the Mount as well, allowing an unearned run and three hits in four innings.  The Bobcats took the lead with an unearned run in the top of the fourth.  With the bases load, Quinnipiac's Bridget Figmic grounded to second base.  The Mount's Taylor Beebe tagged the runner, and threw home trying to get the runner at the plate.  The original call was that the runner was out, but after the umpires met, the call was reversed an the Bobcats took a 1-0 lead.

Quinnipiac (12-7, 1-1 NEC) added an insurance run in the fifth on a wild pitch. The Mount's Liz Christiansen led off the bottom of the seventh with a single, but Schwartzburg retired the next three batters in order to preserve the win.

Pagano allowed an unearned run and four hits in 12 innings of work on the day.  Danni Cummings pitched the final three innings of game two, allowing one hit and one run.  At the plate, Silipino, Holly Buckel, Christiansen and Lohman each had one hit as the Mount was held to four hits in the two games.

The Mount returns to action on Sunday, March 25, with a 12:00 p.m. home game against Sacred Heart at Our Lady of the Meadows Field on campus.