MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. - The Monmouth University softball team used a seven-run seventh inning to defeat Robert Morris, 13-8 in Northeast Conference play on Sunday afternoon at the North Athletic Complex on campus at the Western Pennsylvania school. The Hawks improve to 8-9 overall on the season and 3-0 in NEC play, while the Colonials fall to 8-10 and 2-1 in the league.
The Hawks and RMU were originally scheduled to play a doubleheader, but the second game was cancelled due to rain in the area and no makeup date has been announced.
With Monmouth trailing 8-6 going into its final at-bat, the Hawks came through with seven runs to take a five-run lead heading into the bottom of the final frame, which would hold up for the win. The game-winning hit was supplied by freshman Christine Scherr (Nazareth, Pa. /Nazareth Area), who with the contest tied at 8-8 in the seventh, drove in classmate Tish Derer (Philadelphia, Pa. /Saint Basil Academy) and junior Emily deLong (Rothschild, Wisc. /DC Everest) with a triple to right field to break the deadlock.
The Blue and White took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first after senior Jessica Nicola (South Amboy, N.J. /Sayreville War Memorial) hit her second home run of the season over the left field fence. The round-tripper moved Nicola into sole possession of fifth place on MU's all-time career home run list with 15.
The Colonials responded with two runs in the bottom of the first frame, and after the Hawks answered with another run in the second, RMU tacked on two more in the bottom of the frame to take a 4-2 lead.
The two clubs then went scoreless in the third and fourth innings, but the Hawks responded with three tallies in the fifth to take a 5-4 lead. The big hit in the inning came when deLong drove in freshmen Kate Kuzma (Freehold, N.J. /Colts Neck) and Derer with a double to left. The Colonials scored two in the fifth, but the Hawks responded when junior Dara Palms (Humble, Tex. /Humble) drove in freshmanKayla Weiser (Vandergrift, Pa. /Kiski Area) with a double down the left field line to tie the game at 6-6.
RMU scored twice in the bottom of the sixth, setting up Monmouth's big seven-run final at-bat to pull out the 13-8 win.
deLong went 2-for-5 with two doubles, two RBI and a pair of runs scored. Scherr had three RBI and a run scored, while Nicola went 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Weiser went 3-for-4 at the dish with three runs scored, Palms went 2-for-3 with a run and a RBI and Kuzma went 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored.
Chelsea Paprocki (Manassas, Va. /Forest Park) added a run-scoring single in the final inning, while Derer was on-base three times, scoring twice.
Junior Melissa Mehrer (Florence, N.J. /Florence Township) won her fourth straight start to improve to 5-5 on the season after the complete-game win. She scattered 10 hits and allowed eight runs, only two of which were earned, striking out three and walking two batters.
MU returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts Saint Peter's at 3:00 pm in a nonconference doubleheader.
