Gardiner and Stevens Both Record Two RBI as Softball Hosts LIU Post
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Box Score 2 DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Apr. 23, 2016) – Despite two RBI on the day from senior Amanda Gardiner (Stratford, N.J./Sterling) and freshman Kaylee Stevens (Simi Valley, Calif./Royal), the Mercy College softball team dropped a 5-1 decision in the opener before suffering an 8-4 setback in nine innings in the nightcap to ECC foe LIU Post on Saturday afternoon at Smith Field.
The Mavericks (20-28, 10-18 ECC) have now dropped three in a row, while the Pioneers (32-11-1, 21-5 ECC) have now won three in a row.
Game 1: LIU Post 5, Mercy 1
The opening game of the day saw the visitors get on the board first as Julia Seader homered in the top of the first to give the Pioneers a 1-0 lead. The score remained 1-0 until the bottom of the third when Gardiner drove in sophomore Marlena Marzigliano (Highland Mills, N.Y./Cornwall), who doubled in the previous at bat, to make it 1-1 after three innings.
The Pioneers retook the lead in the top of the fourth as they used two hits and two Mercy errors to scratch across an unearned run to make it 2-1. It stayed 2-1 until the top of the fifth when Seader smashed her second home run of the day, a three-run shot, to make it 5-1.
The Mavericks would get a runner on third in the bottom of the fifth, but could not get a run across and the score remained 5-1. Mercy loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh but a popup to left field ended the threat and the game.
Gardiner went 1-for-4 with an RBI, while junior Julie Gross (Port Monmouth, N.J./Middletown North) went 2-for-3 with her second hit being the 100th of her career. Freshman McKaily Cusumano (Monroe, Mich./Monroe) made the start in the circle and went the first 4 1/3 innings with four earned runs allowed to take the loss. Seader led LIU Post with four RBI and Ashley Martin went the distance to pick up the win.
Game 2: LIU Post 8, Mercy 4 (9 Innings)
The nightcap saw Seader homer for the third time in the first inning to give the guests an early 1-0 lead. The Mavericks followed with an unearned run in the bottom of the inning after a sophomore Morgan Lloyd (East Lyme, Conn./East Lyme) single led to freshman Joelle Salisbury (Rotterdam, N.Y./Notre Dame/Bishop Gibbons) scoring Mercy's first run.
The Mavericks took their first lead of the day in the bottom of the third as Stevens doubled home Salisbury and sophomore Chelsea Konyar (Halifax, Pa./Halifax) to make it 3-1. Gardiner capped off the scoring in the inning with an RBI single to center that scored Lloyd, giving Mercy a 4-1 lead after three innings.
The score was 4-1 heading into the top of the sixth when the Pioneers scored three runs on four hits to even the score up at 4-4. It remained 4-4 after seven innings so the two teams went into extra innings. After a scoreless eighth inning, LIU Post took the lead for good with four runs on five hits, capped off by a Paige Swantek three-run home run to make it 8-4.
Senior Milana Gilaga (Elmwood Park, N.J./Memorial) recorded a hit for the Mavericks in the bottom half of the inning, but was left stranded at third to end the game.
Konyar, Salisbury and Lloyd all recorded two hits, while Stevens went 1-for-3. Stevens made the start in the circle and went the first 6 1/3 innings with nine strikeouts to earn the no-decision. Junior Jackie Kielty (Middleboro, Mass./Dean College) pitched two innings in relief with four earned runs allowed to take the loss. Hannah Olshevski tossed all nine innings for the Pioneers to pick up her 19th win of the season.
Head Coach Mike Fazio and the Mavericks conclude their 2016 season with a road doubleheader against Nyack on Monday, April 25th at 2 p.m.
