CONWAY, S.C. ? The Monmouth University softball team pounded out 23 hits and scored 14 runs in sweeping a doubleheader, 8-1 and 6-4 from host Coastal Carolina on Tuesday afternoon. The Hawks run their win streak to three games now to improve to 5-2 on the season, while the Chants fall to 5-12 on the year.
MU jumped all over Coastal in the first game of the day, scoring three runs in the top of the first inning. Senior Lee Simonetti (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Our Lady of Lourdes) started things off with a double to right field and fellow senior Nichole Alvarez (Brick, N.J./Brick Township) followed with a single up the middle. Both seniors came around to score on sophomore Emily deLong's (Rothschild, Wisc./DC Everest) three-run home run to centerfield, staking Monmouth to a 3-0 lead.
The Blue and White struck for four runs in the top of the third, all with two out, and it all started with a Jessica Nicola (Sayreville, N.J./Sayreville War Memorial) single. Senior Candice Palumbo (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) followed with a single through the middle and both base runners came around to score on junior Alexa Ferrara's (West Caldwell, N.J./James Caldwell) triple to right field, putting MU up 5-0. Ferrara came around to score on a wild pitch.
Simonetti, Alvarez, Palumbo and senior Jaime Jurewicz (Holland, Pa./Nazareth Academy) each went 2-for-4 in the first game. Sophomore Abby Martin (Oswego, N.Y./Oswego) added a double and a run scored in the game as well.
Senior Kristine Sawlsville (Wyomissing, Pa./Wilson) recorded the victory, giving up only three hits and one earned run. She struck out 11 Chants without a walk to improve to 2-2on the season.
In the second game, MU fell behind 3-0 after one frame before scoring four unanswered runs over second and third innings. Trailing 3-0, MU was able to tie the score on a Ferrara three-run home run to left center in the second. The Hawks then took a brief 4-3 lead in the third after deLong hit her second round-tripper of the day, this one a solo shot.
Coastal Carolina came back to tie the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the third, but MU was able to score one run in both the fifth and seventh innings for the win. Nicola recorded what proved to be the game-winning hit in the second contest, plating deLong with a run-scoring double in the fifth. The junior then came around to score an insurance run on freshman Chelsea Paprocki's (Manassas, Va./Forest Park) RBI double in the seventh to round out the 6-4 win.
Simonetti, Nicola and Palumbo each added two hits in the second game as seven Hawks each had at least one hit. Sophomore Melissa Mehrer (Florence, N.J./Florence Township) improved to 2-0 on the season, going all seven innings to earn the win. She gave up seven hits, adding one strikeout and a walk in the triumph.
Monmouth returns to action on Wednesday, March 11 when they visit Winthrop for a doubleheader. First pitch is set for 2:00 pm in Rock Hill.
