Copan Near Perfect in 4-0 NCAA Tourney Victory for Monks

BABSON PARK, MA - First-year Melissa Mayhew (Hiram, Maine) hit a two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the fourth inning and junior Rae-Marie Copan (Newton, Mass.) tossed a one-hit shutout as fifth-seeded Saint Joseph's College defeated eighth-seeded Lesley University, 4-0, in the first elimination game of the Babson Park Regional on Friday afternoon at Alumni Field.

Saint Joseph's College snapped a three-game losing skid and moved to 34-12 overall while Lesley sees the 2013 season come to an end at 24-19.

Mayhew was 2-3 on the day while junior Lindsay Moore (Barrington, N.H.) smacked a two-run double in the bottom of the fifth inning for the Monks. Senior Danyelle Shufelt (Sutton, Vt.), the program's single-season leader in hits, singled once and scored a run, and classmateHeather Tripp (Lovell, Maine) also singled and scored.

Both Copan and her counterpart, Lesley junior Nicole Mercurio (Amherst, N.H.) breezed through the first three innings as Tripp was the only base runner for either team in the early going. Saint Joseph's finally got things going in the bottom of the fourth inning as Moore walked and Tripp reached on a fielding error, putting runners on first and second with just one out. Mercurio got the second out on a groundball to shortstop as both Moore and Tripp moved up a base before scoring one batter later on Mayhew's bloop single that dropped down in short right field for a 2-0 lead.

The Monks doubled their advantage in the bottom of the fifth inning, again with two outs. Sophomore Victoria Ramos (North Scituate, R.I) reached on a fielding error with one out and Shufelt followed with a single, setting the plate for Moore, who delivered with a two-out double to deep centerfield, breaking the game open.

Four runs were more than enough for Copan who retired the first 18 batters she faced, as the junior carried a perfect game into the top of the seventh inning before Lesley senior Emily Mangiaratti (Amherst, Mass.) hit a clean single through the left side to give the Lynx their first base runner. Junior Allison Fountain (Cheshire, Conn.) reached on a fielding error with one out but Copan closed the game with a pair of fly-ball outs, extending her scoreless innings streak to 29.

Copan, who moved to 13-2 with the victory, struck out five and induced 13 flyouts on the day. Mercurio (12-6) took the loss for Lesley, allowing four unearned runs on five hits, striking out one and walking one.

Saint Joseph's advances to a second elimination game on Saturday where they will face either Rowan or Babson at 2:00pm on Saturday afternoon.

GAME NOTES: Friday's contest marked the first-ever meeting between Saint Joseph's College and Lesley University…The Monks earned their first NCAA Tournament win since 2011 while Copan earned her second NCAA victory…Saint Joseph's, who leads the nation averaging 2.19 doubles per game, got its first extra-base hit of the regional on Moore's double….Shufelt is just one run shy of equal the single-season record of 52 for the Monks…With a single in both games of the regional this weekend, Mangiaratti of Lesley finishes her career with 201 hits.

*COURTESY OF BABSON COLLEGE SPORTS INFORMATION