WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. - The Monmouth University softball team dropped two Northeast Conference contests to Fairleigh Dickinson, falling 4-3 and 7-4, on Friday afternoon at the MU Softball Park. The Hawks fall to 15-16 on the season and 6-6 in the conference, while the Knights improve to 20-15 overall and 5-7 in the league.
FDU used a pair of rallies to sweep the Hawks in the two contests between Garden State rivals. MU held a 3-0 lead after four innings in the first game before falling, and was up 2-1 heading into the fourth frame in the second affair.
Sophomore Kayla Weiser (Vandergrift, Pa. /Kiski Area) had the big hit for MU in the first game, a run-scoring triple to left center, to pace a three-run third inning. The Knights were able to tie the game in the top of the seventh, and won the contest with a run-scoring double in the top of the eighth.
Weiser went 3-for-4 in the first game, while classmate Christine Scherr (Nazareth, Pa. /Nazareth Area) enjoyed a 2-for-5 game, adding a run scored. Freshman Shannon Fitzgerald (Santa Clarita, Calif. /Valencia) went 2-for-3, with a free pass.
Junior Lauren Sulick (Canfield, Ohio /Canfield) took the loss in the circle in the first game, giving up four runs, including three earned. She gave up nine hits in the complete-game effort, striking out five.
In the second game, MU tied the contest at 1-1 in the second inning after freshman Alicia DeSanto (Upper Darby, Pa. /Upper Darby) singled in Emily deLong (Rothschild, Wisc. /DC Everest). The Hawks then took the lead one frame later when Weiser chased home Scherr with a base hit.
FDU struck for four runs in the fourth and two in the fifth to take a 7-2 lead. DeSanto tripled in two runs in the sixth to cut the Knights' lead to three, but MU would get no closer. The freshman led the MU offense in the second game, going 2-for-3 with three RBIs, while deLong scored a pair of runs.
Senior Dara Palms (Humble, Tex. /Humble) took the loss in the second game, surrendering nine hits and six earned runs in six innings of work. Junior Michelle Rapp (Hammonton, N.J. /Hammonton) finished the game out, giving up two hits and a run in an inning of work.
MU returns to action on Sunday when it hosts Bryant University at 12:00 pm in a league doubleheader.
