WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. - The Monmouth University softball team split its doubleheader
against defending Northeast Conference champion Sacred Heart in the NEC openers
for both teams, Saturday afternoon at MU Softball Park. The Hawks took the
first game, 2-1, before the Pioneers salvaged the split with a 10-6 Game 2
victory. With the split, the Hawks move to 8-7 (1-1 NEC), while Sacred Heart
pushes its record to 8-14 (1-1 NEC).
Kayla Weiser (Vandergrift,
Pa./Kiski Area) and Kayleena Flores (Atwater, Calif./Buhach Colony) led the way
offensively for the Hawks with three hits each. Weiser had an RBI single and
the game-winning solo home run in Game 1, while Kate Kuzma (Freehold,
N.J./Colts Neck) added a two-run home run in Game 2. A late-inning pinch hitter
in Game 2, Colleen Kelly (Tallmadge, Ohio/Tallmadge) went 2-for-2 with an RBI
single.
Jordan Barnett (Eads,
Colo./Eads [Garden C.C.]) picked up the Game 1 complete-game win, allowing just
one earned run on four hits and seven walks. She struck out four. Lauren Sulick
(Canfield, Ohio/Canfield) took the Game 2 loss, allowing 10 runs but only four
earned, on six hits and eight walks. She struck out four. Alissa Schoelkopf
pitched a clean seventh inning of Game 2, striking out one without allowing a
hit or a walk.
The Hawks jumped out to a 1-0
lead in the first inning of Game 1. After Tish Derer (Philadelphia, Pa./Saint
Basil Academy) walked and stole second, Weiser delivered a two-out single to
left center to drive in the first run of the game. The Pioneers evened the
score in the third. Liz Tsipouras was hit by a pitch with two outs, before
being pinch run for by flex player Noelle Cahill. Justine Sibthorp then doubled
down the left field line to bring Cahill all the way around to score.
With one out in the bottom of
the third, Weiser went deep to right center field to deliver the decisive blow.
Barnett kept the Pioneers off balance the rest of the way to secure the
victory.
Game 2 was marred by six
errors, five by the Blue and White. The first five runs, and six of 10 Sacred
Heart tallies against Sulick, were unearned. After Sulick retired the first two
batters of the second inning, Kate Nadler walked and moved to third on Nikki
Surkes' single to center. The Hawks then threw behind Surkes, who took a wide
turn around first base, but the throw was low and snuck by the first baseman to
give the Pioneers the early 1-0 lead.
In the bottom half of the
inning, Flores got things started with two outs on a bunt single. Kuzma then
sent a no-doubter over the center field fence to give MU a 2-1 cushion.
But the wheels fell off in
the fourth for the Hawks' defense. A shallow fly ball to center was dropped,
before a throwing error on a sacrifice bunt put runners on first and second.
After another sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third, Surkes doubled
down the left field line, bringing in two runs. Following an infield single to
put runners on the corners, Sulick registered a strikeout for the second out. The
Hawks appeared to have sniffed out a delayed steal, but while well ahead of the
play, the throw home got away. A similar play later in the inning resulted in
the run from third scoring before the Hawks could tag the runner from first for
the final out, giving the Pioneers a 5-2 lead, with all five SHU runs being
unearned.
Monmouth answered with a
two-out rally to score one run in the bottom of the fourth, the result of
Chelsea Paprocki's (Manassas, Va./Forest Park) single to center field to score
Flores. But Sacred Heart continue to apply pressure in the fifth, scoring twice
more to take a 7-3 lead. A pair of walks came back to bite Sulick, as Nadler
knocked in both runners who'd reached on free passes with a two-out single to
left center.
The Hawks wouldn't back down,
however, cutting the deficit to 7-6 with three runs in the bottom half of the
fifth. After Tsipouras took over in the circle for starter Kacie Wentworth and
retired the first two Hawks batters, Derer reached on fielding error by the
third baseman. With Kelly pinch hitting, Derer moved to second on a wild pitch
and came around to score on Kelly's single to center. Weiser's single put
runners on the corners, before Kaitie Schumacher (San Diego, Calif./Scripps
Ranch) knocked in Kelly with a single back up the box. A Flores infield single
brought in Weiser, before the Pioneers got the final out of the inning to cling
to a 7-6 lead after five innings.
Sacred Heart added three insurance
runs in the sixth and Game 1 starter Nicole Sidor held the Hawks scoreless
through the final two innings to secure the split.
The Hawks return to action Sunday,
when they play host to NEC foe Quinnipiac in a doubleheader. First pitch of Game
1 from Monmouth Softball Park is scheduled for 12 p.m.
