WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. ? The Monmouth University softball team dropped a Northeast Conference doubleheader for the second straight day, falling 6-2 and 3-1 to defending league regular season and tournament champion Long Island on Sunday. The Hawks fall to 12-19-1 and 4-6 in conference, while the first-place Blackbirds improve to 22-14 and 11-1 in the NEC.
In the first game the Hawks struck first, taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Nichole Alvarez (Brick, N.J./Brick Township) led off the game with a single to centerfield and was moved to second on Lee Simonett's (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Our Lady of Lourdes) bunt single. Jessica Nicola (South Amboy, N.J./Sayreville War Memorial) singled up the middle to load the bases, and Candice Palumbo (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) came through with a single that plated Alvarez to put MU up 1-0.
LIU would answer with a run in the top of the second and added a pair of runs in the third to go up 3-1. MU would get to within one run after Jaime Jurewicz (Holland, Pa./Nazareth Academy) was hit by a pitch and pinch runner Nora Bosmans (Oakhurst, N.J./Ocean Township) scored on a base hit by Kara O'Dell (Henderson, Nev./Green Valley) to make it 3-2 in favor of Long Island. MU would draw no closer and the Blackbirds would go on to tack on three more runs for the 6-2 final.
Alvarez went 2-for-4 and O'Dell went 2-for-3 to lead the Monmouth offense in the first game. Kristine Sawlsville (Wyomissing, Pa./Wilson) took the complete game loss in the circle, giving up 12 hits and five earned runs. The junior, who falls to 6-8, recorded four strikeouts and three walks.
In the second game, freshman Melissa Mehrer (Florence, N.J./Florence Township) pitched well, but was outdueled by LIU ace Jenny Giles in the Blackbirds 3-1 win. Mehrer, who falls to 4-9, pitched a complete game, scattering nine hits and allowing two earned runs while Giles pitched a four-hit complete game.
After Long Island scored two runs in the top of the first inning, Mehrer settled down and kept MU in the game, allowing only one more run the rest of the way. The Hawks chipped into the LIU lead in the bottom of the first when Alvarez, who led off the inning with a single, came around to score on a Nicola single to left.
Abby Martin (Oswego, N.Y./Oswego) went 2-for-3 in the game, including a hustle double to right center in the bottom of the sixth.
Monmouth returns to action on Wednesday, April 16 when they welcome Rutgers to West Long Brach for a 3:00 p.m. doubleheader.
