Duford, Sieber Power Softball to 6-5 Victory Over Regional Foe Stonehill
Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 CLERMONT, Fla. (Mar. 12, 2014) – Senior Mary Sieber (Massapequa Park, N.Y. / Massapequa) improved to 3-0 in the circle and junior Michelle Duford (Maple Ridge, B.C., Canada / Seward County CC) smacked her first home run as a Maverick to power the Mercy College softball team to a 6-5 victory over Stonehill College on Wednesday.
Mercy's record now stands at 3-5 while Stonehill dropped to 3-4 and Wilmington improved to 3-9.
Mercy 6, Stonehill 5
Sieber ran into some trouble in the first inning as a leadoff single and error put runners on first and second, allowing two runs to score on a groundout and single later in the inning. The Mavericks offense came to her aid in the bottom of the second inning, however, as Duford led off with a single and was joined on the base paths by junior Eryn Martinez (Moreno Valley, Calif. / Santa Ana CC) and senior Natalie Wabshinak (New Fairfield, Conn. / New Fairfield) with two outs. Mercy got some help from Stonehill as an error in the next at-bat cleared the bases, and junior Megan Johnson (Gilbert, Ariz. / Phoenix College) singled home a fourth run before the inning ended.
Stonehill pulled one back in the top of the third, loading the bases and scoring on a sacrifice fly, but senior Cristina Lisboa (Bronx, N.Y, / Saint Catherine Academy) keyed an inning-ending double play to get Sieber out of the jam.
The score remained static until the bottom of the fifth inning, when Mercy got some breathing room on a leadoff homer by Duford before scoring on another two-out error to go ahead, 6-3.
The Skyhawks quickly loaded the bases in the top of the seventh inning and pushed two runs across before a single out had been recorded, but senior Brittany Serrao (Lake Hiawatha, N.J. / Parsippany) settled down to finish off the save.
Duford finished 3-for-4 with one RBI and two runs while Johnson also went 3-for-4 and drove in the eventual game-winning run. Martinez and senior Briana Panarese (Monroe, N.Y. / Monroe-Woodbury) also recorded multi-hit games, with Martinez going 2-for-3 with two runs and Panarese hitting 2-for-4. Sieber improved to 3-0, striking out four while allowing just one earned run over six innings.
Mercy 1, Wilmington 5
A two-hour rain delay was sufficient to throw the Maverick's momentum out of kilter in the second game. Wabshinak led off the game with a single before stealing second and advancing to third base on a passed ball, setting up Johnson for the RBI-single to put Mercy up 1-0.
A two-run homer in the bottom of the first turned the tables for Wilmington and a two-RBI double quickly made it a 5-1 affair after the second inning. Mercy was unable to get more than one base runner in any inning until the top of the seventh, but a leadoff single by senior Kelly Bentson (Brewster, N.Y. / Brewster) was not enough to start a rally.
Wabshinak and Bentson each went 2-for-3, with Wabshinak scoring the Mavericks' only run. Johnson was 1-for-2 with a walk while freshman Anna Cochis (Clifton Park, N.Y. / Catholic Central) hurled 4 1/3 scoreless innings in relief, allowing just three hits. Johnson extended her season-opening on-base streak to eight games.
Head Coach Mike Fazio and the Mavericks will play a doubleheader against Assumption College (2-4) on Thursday, Mar. 13 at 1 and 3 p.m.
