WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. - The Monmouth University softball team used a pair of walk-off wins to sweep Mount St. Mary's, 6-5 in eight innings and 3-2, in Northeast Conference play on Sunday afternoon at the MU Softball Park on Senior Day. The Hawks, who honored seniors Alexa Ferrara (West Caldwell, N.J. /James Caldwell) and Jessica Nicola (South Amboy, N.J. /Sayreville War Memorial) before the game, improve to 26-16 overall and 13-4 in the league, while the Mountaineers fall to 24-25 and 6-12 in conference play.
"We came out kind of flat in the first game," said Monmouth head coach Louie Berndt. "We gave up too many freebies, had too many walks and committed some errors defensively, but we continued to push when we needed to and we got one more run across they did. In the second game, we again came out flat; we played well in spurts but left too many people on. We need to do a better job of executing with runners in scoring position."
In the first contest, trailing 5-4 with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Nicola came through with a RBI single, plating freshman Tish Derer (Philadelphia, Pa. /Saint Basil Academy) to tie the game. The Hawks completed the comeback when junior Emily deLong (Rothschild, Wisc. /DC Everest) drove home freshman Christine Scherr (Nazareth, Pa. /Nazareth Area) with the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth.
Then, in the second game, the Hawks were able to steal the win when freshman Kayla Weiser (Vandergrift, Pa. /Kiski Area) lifted a two-out fly ball to left, which was dropped, allowing Scherr to score the winning run.
Ferrara helped the Hawks to a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the first inning of the first game with a two-RBI double to left center. Mount came back with three runs in the top of the second to take a one-run lead before both pitchers settled down, setting up Nicola and deLong's heroics.
deLong, Nicola and Ferrara went a combined 6-for-11 in the first game with three RBI and four runs scored. Weiser added a triple and a run batted in, while Scherr scored twice. Starter Melissa Mehrer (Florence, N.J. /Florence Township) got the win to improve to 15-8 on the season. She worked a complete-game, seven-hitter, striking out four and walking six.
In the second game, Monmouth took a 2-0 lead in the third inning on a sacrifice fly from Nicola and a bases loaded walk issued to Ferrara, which allowed Scherr to score. Mount tied the contest in the fifth on a two-run homer from leadoff hitter Taylor Beebe, but the Hawks escaped with the win in the home half the last inning.
Scherr scored twice again, including the game-winner, Derer scored in the third inning. MU starter Lauren Sulick (Canfield, Ohio /Canfield) got the win to improve to 11-6 on the season, going the distance. She allowed only four hits, striking out six and walking only one.
The two seniors, Ferrara and Nicola, each had big days, combining for five hits, five RBI and two runs scored in the two wins.
"What can you say about Jess Nicola," said Berndt. "She's our general on the field and controls a very young infield and the pitching staff. She comes up with key hits and does a great job calling the game. Lex is a workhorse who is a solid infielder. Between the two of them and their leadership and hard work, they have raised the bar for the young kids to come out and play hard. It is going to be hard to replace those two."
Monmouth returns to action this coming weekend, most likely venturing up to Smithfield, R.I. to play Bryant on either Saturday or Sunday as of now. Check back with www.GoMUHawks.com for latest softball scheduling news.
