Couillard and Gardiner Combine For Five RBI as Softball Splits With Dowling
Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 SHIRLEY, N.Y. (Apr. 2, 2015) – Senior Jackie Couillard (Wolcott, Conn./Wolcott) and junior Amanda Gardiner (Stratford, N.J./Sterling) combined for eight hits, a home run and five RBI as the Mercy College softball team earned a doubleheader split against Dowling College on Thursday afternoon, falling in game one 6-2 before taking an 8-2 decision in the nightcap.
The Mavericks (3-19, 2-5 ECC) pick up their first true road win of the season, while the Golden Lions (11-11-1, 3-4 ECC) have now dropped two out of three.
Game 1: Dowling 6, Mercy 2
The opener saw the Golden Lions get to Mercy starter sophomore Jackie Kielty (Middleboro, Mass./Dean College) early with three runs in the bottom of the first on three hits and an error to take a 3-0 lead after one.
The Mavericks immediately responded in the top of the second as Gardiner drove home Couillard with a single up the middle to cut the deficit to 3-1.
After Kielty worked around a pair of hits in the Golden Lions half of the inning, Mercy would get closer as Couillard drove in senior Michelle Duford (Maple Ridge, B.C./Seward County CC) with a single to right field to make it 3-2.
The score remained 3-2 until the bottom of the fifth when Dowling added on three insurance runs to stretch the lead to 6-2. The Golden Lions used a double down the left field line and a two-RBI single up the middle to build a comfortable lead.
The deficit proved too much to overcome as the Mavericks went down in order in both the sixth and seventh innings to end the game.
Couillard ended the opener 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI, while Gardiner went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Sophomores Liza Ueno (Baldwin, N.Y./Baldwin), Katiana Golino (Carteret, N.J./Carteret) and Kielty all recorded hits, while Duford and freshman Morgan Lloyd (East Lyme, Conn./East Lyme) went 1-for-3.
Game 2: Mercy 8, Dowling 2
The Mavericks offense exploded in the nightcap with eight runs on ten hits, led by Couillard who went 4-4 and Gardiner who hit a two-run homer to left field in the second inning.
Mercy reversed course from the first game as they jumped out to the early lead in game two on a single by Couillard that scored Ueno from second to make it 1-0.
Gardiner added on to that lead with a two-run shot to left following a Ueno double to make it 3-0 in favor of the Mavericks.
Sophomore Holly Pundick (Whiterock, B.C./Jefferson College) would put together another strong outing in the circle for Mercy going five innings with only two earned runs allowed on seven hits to earn the win.
A three-run inning in the top of the third gave the Mavericks a comfortable 6-0 lead after 2 ½ innings of play as they used singles from Couillard and sophomore Julie Gross (Port Monmouth, N.J./Middletown North) and two Dowling errors to score the runs.
The Golden Lions would finally get on the board for their lone two runs of the game in the bottom of the third, but Pundick settled down and held Dowling off the board for the next two innings.
Mercy concluded their scoring in the fifth as junior Alyssa Gutierrez got into the action with a two-RBI double to left center to make it 8-2.
Couillard ended the nightcap 4-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI, while Ueno finished 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored. Gardiner ended up 1-for-4 with her home run, a run scored and two RBI.
Head Coach Mike Fazio and the Mavericks resume ECC play this Saturday, April 4th at 12 p.m. as they host St. Thomas Aquinas in a doubleheader.
