LOUISVILLE, Ky. (March 7, 2025) – Junior Lauren Donovan (Marblehead, Mass.) threw the first no hitter since 2016 for Stonehill softball as the Skyhawks defeated the University of Evansville after falling to Ball State on Friday at the Bellarmine Invitational at Knights Field.
 
GAME 1 – Ball State 12 (10-6, 0-0 MAC), Stonehill 3 (3-3, 0-0 NEC)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Ball State jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning as the Cardinals' first five batters reached base. Ball State added three more runs in the second inning with two singles, a walk and a double.
 
The Cardinals added one run in the third before notching three more with one swing in the top of the fifth when Ella Whitney hit a homerun over the centerfield fence to make the score 10-2.
 
The final two runs came in the sixth off of two Ball State sacrifice flies. The Cardinals tallied 11 hits and 12 runs compared to the Skyhawks' three hits and three runs.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Only one run for the Skyhawks earned an RBI with the other two coming in on double steals. Sophomore Harper Sullivan (Glendale, Ariz.) tallied her team-leading sixth RBI of the season and also pitched three innings in the loss, giving up five hits and four earned runs.
• Sophomore Piper Hofmann (Windermere, Fla.) recorded her first multi-hit game of the season, going 2-2 with a pair of singles.
• Ball State's Kara Gunter led the Cardinals with a 3-4 day at the plate, tallying three RBI, a double, and a walk.
• Brinkley Kita started in the circle and got the win for Ball State, throwing four innings while allowing two hits and three earned runs, walking four.

GAME 2 – Stonehill 1 (4-3, 0-0 NEC), Evansville 0 (10-9, 0-0 MVC)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Stonehill scored the lone run of the game in the top half of the first inning as redshirt junior May Dawes (Beacon Falls, Conn.) drew a walk, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and eventually came around to score on a base hit through the right side of the infield by senior Isabella Therrien (Auburn, Mass.).
 
Hofmann carried her momentum from the first game into the second game with a one-out triple in the second inning but was unable to cross home plate as Evansville stayed within one run.
 
Not a single Purple Ace reached scoring position as Donovan capped off the no-hitter with a strikeout in the bottom of the seventh, recording her first career complete game and first shutout as the Skyhawks secured the 1-0 win.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Donovan threw the first no hitter for the Skyhawks since Megan Ruonavaara, '16 blanked Molloy on March 12, 2016 in Clermont, Florida.
• Donovan picked up her first career win, shutout, and complete game while tallying a career-high five strikeouts. She allowed just four baserunners all game on three walks and an error, throwing 109 pitches in a dominant, seven-inning performance.
• Therrien recorded her first hit and RBI of the season to give Stonehill its 1-0 lead in the first inning.
• Hofmann followed up her 2-2 performance in game one with a 2-3 showing in game two, improving her batting average to .455 (5-11) on the year.
• Freshman Melanie Snyder (Howard Beach, N.Y.) recorded the second hit of her career and her first career stolen base while also getting hit by a pitch.

UP NEXT

• Stonehill softball is back in action tomorrow for day two of the Bellarmine Invitational in Louisville, Ky. at Knights Field, playing the host Knights at 10:30 a.m. before a rematch with Evansville at 1 p.m.

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