Conway, S.C. (February 25, 2023)—The Mount St. Mary's softball team opened the 2023 season with at the Chanticleer Showdown hosted by Coastal Carolina.  The Mount opened the season with a 2-0 win over Saint Joseph's before being edged by UAlbany, 5-4, in game two of the day.  Abigayle Perry led the way for the Mount going 5-for-6 combined in the two games with a home run and three runs scored.

Mount St. Mary's 2, Saint Joseph's 0

The Mountaineers won the season opener with a 2-0 shutout of Saint Joseph's on Saturday morning.  Avery Neuhart and Olivia Murphy combined for the shutout win while Abigayle Perry went 2-for-3 with two runs scored to lead the offense.

After three scoreless innings, the Mount took the lead with a run in the top of the fourth.  Perry led off with a single, and then moved all the way to third on a Vanessa Martin sacrifice bunt.  Kaia Bonshock then brought Perry home with a sacrifice fly.

Perry doubled with two outs in the top of the sixth, and Martin singled to center to bring Perry home to give the Mount a 2-0 advantage.

The Hawks had runners on first and second with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but Murphy was able to get out of the jam with a fly out and a strikeout to secure the win.

Neuhart started for the Mount, pitching 3.1 scoreless innings.  Murphy picked up the win with 3.2 scoreless innings with three strikeouts.

The win was the first-ever for the Mountaineers over Saint Joseph's.  The Hawks had won the first 18 meetings between the two teams.
 
UAlbany 5, Mount St. Mary's 4

Abigayle Perry went 3-for-3 with a three-run homer, but it was not quite enough as the Mount was edged by UAlbany, 5-4, in the second game of the day.

UAlbany struck first with three runs in the top of the second inning off Mount starter Amaya Bowman.  The Great Danes connected on three consecutive singles to start the inning with Deanna Grahe's base hit brining home the game's first run.  Wendi Hammond added an RBI single with the final run coming home on a Sara Anderson sacrifice fly.

The Mount got a run back in the bottom of the inning.  Kassidy Johnson and Maggie Kane singled to open the inning to put runners on the corners.  Johnson stole second to put two runners in scoring position, and after a pop out, Zoe Truxon brought home the Mount's first run with an infield single.

UAlbany added to the lead on a Jordan Nastro RBI double in the top of the fifth, but the Mount fought back to even the score with three runs in the bottom of the frame.  Hannah Gartrell singled and Truxon walked to put runners on first and second with no outs.  That set the table for Perry, who drilled a three-run homer to center field to tie the game at 4-4.

UAlbany regained the lead with a run in the top of the seventh when Nastro provided a two-out base hit through the left side to bring home Caitlyn Fred with the go-ahead run.  In the bottom of the seventh, Perry led off with a single and moved to second on a Vanessa Martin sacrifice bunt, but the Great Danes were able to get the final two outs on a liner to short and a fly out to center to secure the win.

In addition to Perry's three-hit game, Johnson went 2-for-3 at the plate for the Mountaineers.  Bowman allowed three runs in four innings in a no decision while freshman Maddie Coleman took the loss, allowing two runs in 2.1 innings.  Olivia Murphy pitched the final 0.2 innings, allowing one hit.

Up Next:  The Mountaineers will play host Coastal Carolina twice tomorrow to round out the tournament.