FAIRFAX, Va. - The Monmouth University softball team split its two games on Saturday at the Cherry Blossom Classic, hosted by George Mason University, falling to Albany, 3-1 and defeating Cornell, 7-3. MU, which wraps up its stay at the tournament tomorrow when they take on the Great Danes again, is now 8-10 on the season.
In their second game of the day, the Hawks received a huge individual offensive performance from freshman Shannon Fitzgerald (Santa Clarita, Calif. /Valencia). The newcomer went 3-for-4 with six RBIs, collecting two-RBI hits each in the third, fourth and sixth frames.
Fitzgerald's first run-scoring hit gave MU a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third. Her second one was part of a three-run fourth frame for the Hawks, which extended their lead to 5-1, while her final one, a double, concluded Monmouth's scoring.
Kate Kuzma (Freehold, N.J. /Colts Neck) went 2-for-4 for the Hawks, while Chelsea Paprocki (Manassas, Va. /Forest Park) went 2-for-2 and scored three runs. Lauren Sulick (Canfield, Ohio /Canfield) picked up the complete-game win, scattering seven hits, while striking out and walking four batters apiece.
In its first game of the day against the Great Danes, MU received its only run courtesy of a Kuzma home run in the fourth inning. She went 2-for-3 to lead the Hawks in the contest.
Sulick took the loss against UAlbany, giving up eight hits, and one earned run, while striking out three and walking one in a complete game effort.
