COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College softball team was swept by regionally-ranked Southern New Hampshire University, 5-0 and 6-0, on Monday during Northeast-10 Conference play at Doc Jacobs Field. The Purple Knights are now 1-26 overall, 1-18 in the league and 0-13 in the Northeast Division, while the Penmen improved to 23-12, 12-8 and 11-5. Southern New Hampshire was sixth in last week's NCAA East Region rankings.

Senior Laura McCormack (Natick, Mass./Natick) allowed five earned runs on nine hits during a complete game for the hosts, who were continuing a run of 14 games in 11 days to end the regular season. Junior Ali Maloof (Norwood, Mass./Norwood) spun a perfect game for the Penmen, striking out 11 of the 21 batters she faced. Sophomore Mo Hannan (Scarborough, Maine/Scarborough) was 2-for-4 with a run, junior Holly Eicher (Stoneham, Mass./Stoneham) finished 2-for-3 with an RBI, and sophomore Katie Caruso (Newton, Mass./Newton North) hit a home run.

Three of the more difficult plays that Southern New Hampshire faced in keeping the perfect game intact involved Maloof. Seniors Amanda Brigante (Colchester, Vt./Colchester) and Grace Bonaiuto (Beverly, Mass./Austin Preparatory School) sent line drives back to the circle that the pitcher snagged in the first and third inning, respectively, while classmate Greer Lemnah (Lyndon Center, Vt./Lyndon Institute) bunted to Maloof for the first out in the fourth.

Eicher's two-out RBI single in the first put the Penmen in front, and wild pitches scored two runs in the second. Caruso swatted a home run in the fifth to make it 4-0, and Maloof scored on the back end of a double steal in the seventh.

Lemnah went 2-for-3 in the nightcap, and senior Lea Gipson (Bridport, Vt./Middlebury Union) held Southern New Hampshire scoreless until the fifth inning before yielding six runs over seven frames with two strikeouts.

Maloof went 4-for-4 while tossing four two-hit, shutout innings for her second win of the day. Junior Rebecca Sherwood (Braintree, Mass./Braintree) worked a trio of two-hit, shutout frames of relief for the save. Caruso hit another home run and drove in two, while sophomore Lindsey Bolduc (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) was 2-for-4 with three RBIs, including a dinger.

The Penmen put two in scoring position with no one out in the first before Gipson worked out of the jam unscathed, and Saint Michael's snapped Maloof's string of 10 consecutive perfect innings when Lemnah led off the fourth with a clean single to left field. With two down, sophomore Danielle DelGreco (Lexington, Mass./Lexington) dumped a single into shallow right field, but Lemnah was out trying to score from second base on the play.

In the fifth, Maloof's one-out RBI single put her team in front, and Caruso knocked a two-run home run two batters later. Sophomore Judi Barcavage (Cold Spring, N.Y./Haldane) led off the home half with a hard-hit infield single, but Saint Michael's left a runner on base, and Bolduc's two-out, three-run homer in the seventh doubled the lead.

The Purple Knights head to Franklin Pierce University tomorrow for a 2 p.m. doubleheader.