FLORENCE, S.C. (Feb. 18, 2018) – Junior Kaylee Stevens (Simi Valley, Calif./Royal) pitched five strong innings in the opening game of the day to earn the win and recorded an RBI in game two as the Mercy College softball team defeated Chowan University, 4-2, before falling to host Francis Marion University, 9-1, on Sunday afternoon at the FMU Softball Field.
The Mavericks (3-3) remain at .500 on the year, while Chowan (4-6) falls to two games below .500 and Francis Marion (7-3) improves to four games over .500.
Game 1: Mercy 4, Chowan 2
The score remained 0-0 until the bottom of the third when Molly Rosenthal led off the inning with a home run to left center. However, that would be the only hit Chowan could record off of Stevens in her five innings of work.
The Mavericks responded with three runs on four hits and a Hawks error to take a 3-1 lead. Senior Skania Lemus (Chula Vista, Calif./Southwestern CC) led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. After Stevens walked, sophomore Destini Bullock (San Diego, Calif./Helix) brought home Lemus with an RBI single to right field making it 1-1. Senior Morgan Lloyd (East Lyme, Conn./East Lyme) then came up to bat and delivered an RBI single to right center to put Mercy ahead, 2-1. Bullock would also score on the play after an error by the Chowan right fielder increasing the Mavericks lead to 3-1.
It remained 3-1 until the top of the seventh when Bullock doubled home Lemus to bring the score to 4-1. The Hawks plated a run in the seventh but could not get any more runs and the Mavericks came away with the 4-2 victory.
Bullock went 2-for-3 with two RBI and Lloyd went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Lemus went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and Stevens went 1-for-2 and picked up her second win of the year. Junior Raina Gorman (Ardsley, N.Y./Florida Southwestern State College) pitched the final two innings to earn the save.
Rosenthal went 1-for-3 and Shannon Buchanan went the distance in the circle for the Hawks with four earned runs allowed to take the loss.
Game 2: Francis Marion 9, Mercy 1
The final game of the trip saw the Mavericks score first in the top of the first as Stevens recorded an RBI single through the right side that brought home freshman Hannah Mueller (Fair Oaks, Calif./Bella Vista) to give Mercy a 1-0 lead. Francis Marion answered with five runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning to take a 5-1 lead. The biggest blow of the inning came off the bat of Chelsea Welty who recorded a grand slam to left center that concluded the scoring in the inning.
The Mavericks could only record one hit after the first inning and Francis Marion recorded a run in the third, two in the fourth and one in the fifth to win via the run rule after five innings.
Stevens went 1-for-2 with an RBI and junior Mackenzie Dunlop (Surrey, British Columbia/West Virginia State University) and Lloyd went 1-for-2. Sophomore Alexis Carmichael (Allen, Texas/Allen) made the start in the circle and allowed four earned runs without recording an out to take the loss.
Welty went 2-for-2 with four RBI to lead Francis Marion and Reece Davis went the distance with just three hits allowed to earn the win.
Head Coach Mike Fazio and the Mavericks return to action on Saturday, March 10th when they take on Stonehill College for a doubleheader in Clermont, Florida at 4:30 p.m.
