February 18, 2022—The Mount St. Mary's softball team opened the 2022 season by splitting a pair of games at the Wolfpack Classic hosted by NC State.  The Mount won its season opener, 5-1, over Lehigh before falling to Fairfield, 11-6, in the final game of the day.

MOUNT ST. MARY'S 5, LEHIGH 1
The Mount opened the 2022 season with a 5-1 victory over Lehigh behind a strong pitching performance from Amanda Berkley.

Berkley allowed one run and five hits in the complete-game victory.  She struck out five while not allowing a walk in the game.

The Mount jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the top of the first inning.  Abigayle Perry and Tori Bowles set the table by reaching base on walks, and Maggie Kane brought home the first run of the game with a two-out RBI single to right field.  Elizabeth King followed with a single up the middle for a 2-0 lead.

The Mount added two more runs in the fourth.  King had an RBI single and the second run scored on a Lehigh error.  Kaia Bonshock belted a solo home run in the fifth for a 5-0 lead.  Lehigh broke up the shutout bid with a run in the bottom of the seventh.

King led the offense by going 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBI and a run scored.  Bridgette Gilliano, Bonshock, Bowles, Kane, Mariah Godde and Zoe Truxon also had hits in the win.  Godde's was a two-base hit in the third inning.

FAIRFIELD 11, MOUNT ST. MARY'S 6

The second game of the day ended up being a high scoring affair with Fairfield jumping out to an early six-run  lead en route to the 11-6 victory.  Abigayle Perry and Vanessa Martin each homered for the Mount in the game.

Fairfield broke out on top with four runs in the bottom of the first inning off Mount starting pitcher Elizabeth King.  Kaitlin Hoffman drove home the first run with a two-out double, and after an Evie Wright base hit, Allie Bridgman connected for a three-run homer to give the Stags the four-run inning.  Fairfield added two more runs in the second to build the 6-0 advantage.

The Mountaineers got on the scoreboard in the top of the third when Perry belted a two-run homer to make it 6-2.  Fairfield responded with three runs in the bottom of the frame to push its lead to 9-2.  The Mount fought back with three runs in the top of the fourth on a Bridgette Gilliano RBI single and a two-run single from Kaia Bonshock. Fairfield scored twice in the fifth to make it 11-5.  The Mount's Martin belted a solo homer in the top of the sixth to round out the scoring.

Perry and Martin each had multiple-hit games for the Mountaineers.  Perry was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and two RBI from the leadoff spot while Martin was 2-for-3 with two runs scored.  Elizabeth King started for the Mount and allowed nine runs (eight earned) in 2.1 innings of work.  Freshman Olivia Murphy came on in relief for her collegiate debut and allowed two earned runs over the final 3.2 innings.

UP NEXT:  The Mount will face Lehigh again tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. before playing the host team, NC State, at 5:30 p.m.