Box Score WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. –
Rachel Shotzbarger (Saugus, Calif./Saugus) had two hits and two runs scored and
Vanessa Cardoza (Santa Ana, Calif./Ocean View) added a bases-clearing double, but the Monmouth University softball team fell to Delaware, 9-5, Wednesday afternoon at MU Softball Park. Game 2 of the scheduled doubleheader was called due to darkness after two innings. With the loss, Monmouth falls to 7-14, while the Blue Hens improved to 20-13.
Emma Hill (Rae, Mo./King City [Highland C.C.]),
Katie Baron (Matawan, N.J./St. John Vianney),
Justene Reyes (Carson, Calif./Warren), and
Kayleena Flores (Atwater, Calif./Buhach Colony) also added a hit apiece, while
Chloe Howerth (Roscoe, Ill./Hononegah),
Nikki Sandelier (Turnersville, N.J./Washington Township) and
Raeann Buskey (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) each scored a run for the Hawks.
Raelynn Galindo (Yorba Linda, Calif./Yorba Linda) also drove in a run.
Sydney Underhill (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral) started in the circle for the Hawks and took a no decision. She allowed one run on one hit and two walks, while striking out two.
Breanna Sniffen (Winter Garden, Fla./West Orange [St. Petersburg College]) took the loss, allowing six runs, four earned, on five hits and two walks in two innings. She struck out one.
Mariah Kondravy got the scoring started in the fourth, serving an opposite-field solo home run just over the left field fence and inside the foul pole. Monmouth countered with a run in the bottom of the fourth when Shotzbarger and Reyes led off with consecutive singles, moved up on a Flores groundout and Shotzbarger scored on Galindo's groundout.
Delaware struck for two runs in the fifth and four more in the sixth to take a 7-1 lead. Leanna Gearhart led off the fifth with a triple before scoring on Jessica Grisler's single up the middle. A two-base error in the outfield moved Grisler to third before she scored on a Danielle Wissinger groundout to make it 3-1. In the sixth, a muffed throw to the plate on a fielder's choice allowed the Blue Hens to take a 4-1 lead. Gearhart followed with a two-run single to center and Wissinger contributed a two-run single of her own later in the frame to make it 7-1.
Monmouth got three runs back in the bottom of the sixth. Shotzbarger led off with a single before Sandelier was hit by a pitch and Galindo walked to load the bases. With two outs, Cardoza cleared the bases with a double on a line drive to right center, cutting the deficit to 7-4. But Delaware kept the pressure on with two runs in the top of the seventh. Three-straight two-out singles, paired with a wild pitch and an ill-advised throw led to the two runs, making it 9-4 heading to the bottom of the seventh.
Baron contributed a pinch-hit single to right, before Howerth reentered on the base paths. Howerth took second on an errant throw following the second out, before taking third and home on wild pitches to make it 9-5. But the Hawks couldn't muster another run, falling by the same score.
The Hawks return to conference action Saturday, when they play host to Iona. First pitch of the doubleheader is slated for 1 p.m. at MU Softball Park.
