WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. ? The Monmouth University softball team dropped the first game of a doubleheader with Seton Hall 5-3 in eight innings and tied the Pirates 3-3 in the second game on Wednesday afternoon. The second contest was called in the sixth inning due to darkness. The Hawks are now 13-7-1 overall while SHU is 14-14-1 on the season.
Trailing 3-1 entering their final at bat in the first game, the Hawks tacked two runs on the board to force extra innings before allowing a pair of Seton Hall scores in the top of the eight. Then in the second game, Monmouth was down 3-1 entering the bottom of the sixth, which proved to be its final at-bat, and rallied to knot the night at 3-3.
This marks the second straight season that MU has logged a tie in a nonconference game. Last season, the Hawks and Stony Brook played to a 2-2 tie on March 18.
Down 2-0 in the second game, the Hawks got on the board in the fourth inning when senior Jaime Jurewicz (Holland, Pa./Nazareth Academy) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, forcing home sophomore Emily deLong (Rothschild, Wisc./DC Everest), who had reached on a single up the middle four batters earlier. The Pirates responded with a run in the top of the sixth but Monmouth fought back behind a run-scoring double from Dara Palms (Humble, Tex./Humble) and tied the contest at 3-3, earning the tie.
Sophomore Abby Martin (Oswego, N.Y./Oswego) was credited with the no-decision, pitching all six innings, giving up four hits and three runs, two of which were earned. She struck out four batters and walked three.
In the first game, Monmouth was down 3-1 entering the seventh before coming back to force extra innings. Senior Lee Simonetti (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Our Lady of Lourdes) led off the seventh with a double to left center and came around to score on a single by Palms. Freshman Chelsea Paprocki (Manassas, Va./Forest Park) tied the game one batter later as her single to left chased home pinch runner Jessellyn Jackson (Howell, N.J./Colts Neck). Seton Hall would score two runs in the top of the eighth to pull out the 5-3 win.
Paprocki led with MU, going 2-for-3 while deLong added her team-leading seventh home run of the season.
Sophomore Melissa Mehrer (Florence, N.J./Florence Township) pitched all eight innings, giving up six hits and three runs while striking out five and walking none. She took the loss, dropping her record on the season to 7-2.
Monmouth returns to action this weekend when they visit Long Island on Saturday for a Northeast Conference doubleheader with the Blackbirds. First pitch is set for 1:00 pm.
