WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ. -Monmouth softball dropped two games to St. Joe's Friday afternoon at the MU Softball park in a doubleheader, falling 7-3 in the first game and 10-3 in the final game of the day. 

GAME ONE: St. Joe's 7, Monmouth 3
Monmouth softball fell 7–3 to St. Joe's on Friday in game one, with the contest turning decisively in a single inning. After Monmouth grabbed an early lead, St. Joe's erupted for seven runs in the top of the third—a surge that proved more than enough to secure the win.

The Hawks struck first when Ella Stevinson lined a single to right field, bringing Dominique Lopez home for a 1–0 advantage. However, the momentum quickly shifted in the third inning.

St. Joe's answered with an RBI single to tie the game, then capitalized on a Monmouth error to take the lead. A two-run single followed, pushing the Hawks ahead 4–1. With the bases loaded multiple times in the inning, St. Joe's continued to apply pressure, combining timely hitting with aggressive baserunning to build a commanding 7–1 lead.

Izzy Bonacci got the start in the circle for Monmouth, surrendering four of the seven runs during the pivotal third inning. Carah Sumpter provided relief and held St. Joe's scoreless for the remainder of her outing.


GAME TWO: St. Joe's 10, Monmouth 3

St. Joe's carried its momentum from game one into game two on Friday, erupting for four runs in the top of the first inning and holding the lead for the remainder of the contest.

Monmouth answered in the bottom of the second, trimming the deficit to two runs after Kaitlynn Place delivered a two-run RBI double.

Both teams were held scoreless over the next two innings before St. Joe's broke through again in the fifth, adding three runs to extend its lead to 7–2. The Hawks tacked on another run in the sixth to make it 8–2.

Monmouth plated its final run of the day on a sacrifice fly from Place, which brought Bri Lawson home to make it 8–3.

St. Joe's added insurance in the top of the seventh, scoring two more runs on RBI singles to cap the 10–3 victory.


NOTES AND NUMBERS 

• Dominique Lopez extended her hit streak to 13 games, capturing hits in both games
• Carah Sumpter came in for relief for Izzy Bonacci in game one, allowing zero earned runs
• Liv Smith tallied her first triple of the day and Monmouth's second triple of the season
• Ella Stevinson, Bri Lawson and Liv Smith each tallied a team-high two hits apiece in game one
• Both teams finished with 9 hits in game one
• Monmouth left nine runners on base in game one while St. Jose's left six runners on base
• Kaitlynn Place recorded two doubles on the day for Monmouth, which were both her first doubles of the season 
• Lawson tallied a team-high of four hits on the day after tallying two hits in Monmouth's two games

UP NEXT 
Monmouth will take on St. Joe's in a midweek game in Philly on Wednesday at 3 p.m. Wednesday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+