Press Release

SOFTBALL SNAPS SKID, SPLITS DOUBLEHEADER AT AIC FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                      FOR MORE INFORMATION April 8, 2004                                                                              Contact: Seth Cole Courtesy AIC Sports Information                                                  Phone: (802) 654-2537 SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Kelly D’Angelo (Elmira, N.Y.) carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning of the first game of a doubleheader as American International College and Saint Michael’s College split a softball doubleheader Thursday afternoon at Yellow Jackets Field. AIC took the first game 4-0 while the Purple Knights took a 2-0 win in the nightcap. AIC is now 6-12 and 5-3 in the Northeast-10 while Saint Michael’s is 7-9 and 1-5 in the league. D’Angelo, who struck out 16 batters on the afternoon, carried a no-hitter for 6 1/3 innings before SMC’s Whitney Christmas (Brattleboro, Vt./Brattleboro Union) hit a one-out single through the left side, the Purple Knights’ only hit of the opener. She has not allowed a run in her last 15 1/3 innings of action. In the opener the Yellow Jackets struck for three runs in the bottom of the third then tacked one more on in the fifth. Nicole Siciliano (Enfield, Conn.) led off the inning with a single and would be driven home by Nikki Matisi (Endicott, N.Y.). Keli Waite (Granville, N.Y.) and Morgan Larson (Queensbury, N.Y.) would each add RBI singles to make it 3-0. A bases-loaded groundout by Lee Ann Howard (Norwalk, Conn.) in the bottom of the fifth would force in Casey Wall (Westport, Conn.) from third. Larson went 3-for-3 in the opener while Matisi finished 2-for-2 with a walk. Saint Michael’s would plate both of their runs with two outs, one in the fourth and another in the top of the sixth frame. Junior Noelle Gill (Deep River, Conn./Mercy) hit a solo home run to left-center with two outs in the fourth to give the Purple Knights a 1-0 lead then a double by Christmas followed by a two-out single by Gill manufactured SMC’s other score in the sixth. Gill finished the second game 3-for-3 at the plate. Freshman Meggan Roberge (Sheldon Springs, Vt./Missisquoi Valley Union) stymied AIC in the second game, allowing just a pair of hits, a leadoff single by Matisi and a single by Larson, both in the second inning. She struck out 11 Yellow Jacket hitters. Matisi took the loss in the circle for AIC, scattering five hits and striking out four. American International returns to action Friday when it hosts Adelphi in a doubleheader starting at 1:00. Saint Michael's visits Southern Connecticut in a doubleheader on Saturday, then hosts Southern New Hampshire on Monday at 3 p.m. ###PURPLEKNIGHTS###

For more information please contact the SMC Sports Information Office at (802) 654-2537
Last Revised: October 25, 2002