WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. ? Jessica Nicola (South Amboy, N.J. /Sayreville War Memorial) came through with a two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the sixth inning as the Monmouth University softball team overcame a 4-0 deficit to defeat Pennsylvania 6-4 in the second game of a doubleheader at the MU Softball Complex on Saturday afternoon. The Hawks fell to the Quakers 5-2 in the first game of the day.
Nicola's double drove in freshman Emily deLong (Rothschild, Wisc./DC Everest), who had singled, and Nichole Alvarez (Brick, N.J./Brick Township), who was intentionally walked.
Penn went up 4-0, scoring a pair of runs in both the first and second innings off of Monmouth University starting pitcher Melissa Mehrer (Florence, N.J./Florence Township). Mehrer settled down and held Penn at bay for the remainder of the contest, earning the complete game win to improve to 2-4 on the season. She gave up five hits and walked seven runners while striking out five.
MU scored their first run in the bottom of the second, when Nicola scored on a Lisa DiLeo (Commack, N.Y./Commack) single with two outs. The Hawks then struck for two runs in the third when deLong singled and stole second, and was chased home by an Alvarez base hit. The junior from Brick then scored on a Nicola single two batters later.
deLong went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a stolen base while Alvarez scored three runs and stole two bases in the game. Nicola was a perfect 4-for-4 with four runs driven in, helping to lift her batting average almost 100 points on Saturday afternoon from .231to .326. DiLeo went 2-for-2 in the nightcap against the Quakers with an RBI.
In the first game of the day, Penn jumped on top of MU to take a 5-0 lead after scoring three runs in the third and one apiece in the fifth and sixth innings. Taylor Tieman supplied the offense with a three-run home run in the top of third inning.
The Hawks staged a late flurry, scoring twice in the bottom of the seventh as Gina Mignogna (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape Regional) singled home Nicola and freshman Dara Palms (Humble, Tex./Humble), who pinch ran after Alexa Ferrara (West Caldwell, N.J./ James Caldwell) singled.
Monmouth is now 3-10-1 on the season, while Penn now sits at 11-5.
The Hawks return to action on Wednesday, March 26 when they visit St. John's for a doubleheader. First pitch is set for 3:00 p.m.
