The Saint Anselm softball team has been off to a hot start to begin their season. The team has experienced its fair share of highs and lows and we have seen a lot of record breakers and very exciting moments during the season so far. In the preseason, the team was ranked 6th in the NE-10 preseason coaches’ poll which is obviously pretty impressive so the team was excited to start their season because they were anticipating a season with a lot of success.
The team flew down to Auburndale Florida in late February and had split results, falling to the University of Sioux Falls 9-0 and a walk off 6-5 win against St. Cloud St. University when pinch-runner Stephanie Tardugno scored from third on a wild pitch. That win gave the team the positive energy they needed to start their season. In the next round of spring games the team saw the same split results they saw the other day. The hawks fell to Western Oregon 8-2 in the first game but a highlight from it was that senior Sam Wiberg had 2 of the teams 3 hits that game. The hawks won the second game against Davenport 3-2. Sophomore Sam Ryan threw a complete game, holding the Panthers to just 2 hits over the final two innings. The hawks held on for their 3rd win of the season.
The team closed out the spring games with a 9-1 rout of Mary in 5 innings because of the run-ahead rule. Sophomores Sarah Cipriani and Katie Tournas each picked up an RBI, and the pitching was top notch that game as well with Sam Ryan getting the final 3 outs. In the second game that day, the team fell to Wilmington 5-1, though in that game Sophomore Kendra Lee allowed only 1 hit across three innings. Later in March, the team kicked off the Space Coast
Games in Melbourne Florida in dominant fashion securing back to back wins in their opening games. The hawks beat Minnesota Crookston 4-2 in seven innings with Sam Ryan throwing another complete game, only allowing 2 baserunners in the final 3 innings. Against Ursuline, which was the 8th all-time meeting against the two ball clubs, the team improved to 6-2 against them with a dominant 7-0 shutout. Senior Sophia DiPippo pitched a dominant complete game shutout, allowing only four hits to earn her first win of the season. Fellow senior Sam Wilberg went 2-3 at the plate, recording the team’s only extra base hit of the day. 7 of the team’s 8 hits came in the 6th inning.
On day 2 of the Space Coast games, the team continued to impress with a 3-2 walk off victory over Minnesota Crookston and senior Sam Wiberg walked it off with a base hit. The next game against Post, the hawks put on a clinic and put up a dominant 10-0 win which was the 4th meeting of the 2 teams. Sam Ryan threw a dominant 2 hit complete game in the shutout win. This was the team’s 4th straight win, their longest winning streak in the young season. The team extended their winning streak to six with 2 wins both against Molloy. They ended up losing the streak when they lost 2 straight close games against Eckerd and UT Dallas. In a split doubleheader against St Michael’s sophomore Brooke Tardugno tied a program record with 5 stolen bases in one game in the 2nd game which ended with a hawks w.
The team still has a long season ahead and they hope they can carry their bright energy into the postseason.