ATLANTA – The No. 25 St. John Fisher softball team (5-3) split its first two games on Friday in the Emory Eagles Invite, beating Emory 4-1 before falling to No. 17 Pfeiffer 6-4.
Game 1: St. John Fisher 4, Emory 1
Reigning Empire 8 Pitcher of the Year Cassidy Ormond twirled a gem in the Cardinals' 4-1 victory over Emory to start the day.
Ormond, who held Emory to one hit through six innings, struck out four batters and walked just three while going the distance for her second pitching victory of the season.
The Cardinals threatened to put up a crooked number in the top of the first inning, as junior Madi Rose reached on an error, senior Amalia DeMartino singled to center and sophomore Emily McManus singled to left to load the bases with one out. But Fisher could only push across Rose, who scored on sophomore Taylor Shackleton's two-out walk.
The Cardinals went down in order in the second inning but added two more runs to their lead in the third when McManus, the E8's home runs leader in 2024, blasted a two-run shot to center field. DeMartino made it 4-0 the next inning, bringing home senior Katie Mannis on a bases-loaded single through the left side of the infield.
Emory made things interesting in the bottom of the seventh with four straight singles to start the frame. But the experienced Ormond, after allowing her first run of the game on Ellie Estridge's pinch-hit single, regrouped.
With the bases loaded and nobody out, Ormond got Shivani Nangia to pop out to Mannis at third, Ashley Chu to strikeout swinging and Marisol Gonzalez to fly out to McManus in left field to escape the jam.
Notes:
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DeMartino, who went 4-for-4, had her first collegiate four-hit game. She drove in a run and scored one.
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McManus, who's picked up where she left off, ripped her E8-leading fourth home run of the season.
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McManus and senior outfielder Maddie Donlin each had two hits.
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Shackleton drew a pair of walks and had an RBI.
Game 2: St. John Fisher 4, Pfeiffer 6
The Cardinals nearly erased a 6-0 deficit in the bottom of the seventh inning but couldn't get one more big hit in a 6-4 loss to No. 17 Pfeiffer in their second game of the day.
The Falcons scored four runs in the top of the first inning, all of them on singles. They added two more – with those runs also coming on a string of base hits – to take a 6-0 lead in the seventh.
The Cardinals, down to their final three outs, sparked up a rally, which began with senior Mari Spitz's single up the middle. Shackleton followed with a double, and senior Tori LoPresto kept the line moving with a single that plated Fisher's first run.
After Mannis brought home another run with a sacrifice fly, senior Cassidy Evanetski scored LoPresto with a double to right field to make it a 6-3 game.
With two outs, Donlin kept the Cardinals' chances alive, ripping a double to right that scored Evanestski and brought the tying run to the plate.
Emma Bullin, who recorded the final two outs in relief, got DeMartino to ground out to end the ballgame.
Notes
Up Next
The Cardinals play the same two teams – but in reverse order – on Saturday. They face Pfeiffer at 10 a.m. and Emory at 2 p.m. to complete their Georgia spring break slate.
