WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. ? Sophomore hurler Kristine Sawlsville (Wyomissing, Pa./Wilson) won both games and senior Heather Gordon (Hatboro, Pa./Mount St. Joseph's) hit a home run in each game as the Monmouth University softball team swept a doubleheader from Robert Morris, 3-1 and 10-9 Saturday afternoon. The Hawks improve to 19-8 and 7-1 in the Northeast Conference with the pair of wins, while Robert Morris falls to 9-13 and 4-4 in conference.
Sawlsville dealed a complete game four-hitter in the first contest with the Colonials, striking out eight and walking only two. In the second game, she came in to pitch the final 2.1 innings in relief to earn the win and Gordon delivered the game-winning single through the left side to score Lee Simonetti (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Our Lady of Lourdes) who led off the inning with a single.
In the first game with the Hawks trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth, Jessica Nicola (South Amboy, N.J./Sayreville) stepped to the plate and blasted a two-out, two-run home run over the left-centerfield fence to score Nichole Alvarez (Brick, N.J./Brick Twp.), who had singled, with what proved to be the game-winning run.
Gordon then added an insurance run with a round-tripper of her own in the bottom of the fifth inning to give MU their 3-1 lead. Gina Mignogna (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape) just missed out on a home run of her own as she smacked a double in the fifth inning that hit off the base of the fence.
In game two Monmouth jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the second inning and held a 9-4 lead after four before Gordon's late-game heroics supplied the 10-9 win in the bottom of the seventh. The Hawks got it going when Mignogna laced a two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the second. Simonetti followed with a RBI single to score Mignogna.
The Colonials came back with a three-run double by Ashley Smith in the third, and chipped away to tie the game at 9-9 in the top of the seventh. Right before RMU tied the game, Heather Gordon gunned out Brooke Panepinto at the plate and Nicola supplied the tag to end the sixth before the Colonials scored the equalizer in the top of the seventh.
Simonetti went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI in the second game, while Alvarez went 3-for-4 with two runs scored. She also had five stolen bases on the day, including four in the second game. Gordon with 3-for-5 with four RBI and Nicola, Mignogna and Candice Palumbo (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) each collected two hits and one run scored.
The Hawks return to action when they host Saint Peter's on Wednesday, April 11 in a doubleheader with the first pitch set for 3 pm.
Pictured: Sophomore Kristine Sawlsville
