DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Apr. 14, 2018) – Powered by two home runs and three RBI on the day from senior Cassidy Wootten (Ardsley, N.Y./Monroe College), the Mercy College softball team earned 2-1 and 9-4 victories over ECC foe Queens College in a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Smith Field.
The Mavericks (16-13, 6-8 ECC) snap a two-game losing streak with the wins, while the Knights (9-15, 6-10 ECC) have dropped four games in a row.
Game 1: Mercy 2, Queens 1
A pitcher's duel broke out in game one between junior Yazzy Jameson (San Diego, Calif./Southwestern CC) and Queens starter ToniMarie Valeriano. The game remained scoreless until the top of the seventh when Briana Schippell hit a pinch-hit RBI single to left field that scored Alyssa Delaney to give the Knights a 1-0 lead.
After a fly out to left began the Mavericks home half of the seventh, Wootten smacked a home run to right center that knotted the score up at 1-1. Senior Skania Lemus (Chula Vista, Calif./Southwestern CC) then singled and senior Allie Pellizzaro (Victoria, British Columbia/Eastern Arizona CC) reached on a fielder's choice with Lemus being thrown out at second. Pellizzaro advanced to second on a wild pitch and senior Baylee McCormick (Las Vegas, Nev./Indian Springs) followed with a single through the left side to score Pellizzaro, giving Mercy the 2-1 win.
Wootten went 1-for-2 with an RBI and McCormick went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Lemus and Pellizzaro also recorded a hit and Jameson went the distance with one run allowed to pick up the win.
Schippell went 1-for-1 with an RBI for Queens and Valeriano went the distance with two runs allowed to take the loss.
Game 2: Mercy 9, Queens 4
The second game of the day saw Mercy jump out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Wootten homered again to lead off the inning. The Mavericks made it 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth when Pellizzaro doubled and later came around to score on an error by the right fielder.
Pellizzaro increased the Mercy lead to 3-0 in the fifth inning when the senior hit an RBI single to left field that scored junior Mikayla Newham (Redding, Calif./Yavapai College). Queens answered with two runs in the top of the sixth to get within 3-2. However, the Mavericks exploded for six runs in the bottom of the sixth to build a 9-2 lead. Lemus and McCormick led off the inning with back-to-back home runs and sophomore Destini Bullock (San Diego, Calif./Helix) later brought home another run on a fielder's choice to make it 6-2. Wootten singled home freshman Hannah Mueller (Fair Oaks, Calif./Bella Vista) to increase the lead to 7-2 and Pellizzaro delivered a two-run double to right field that concluded the scoring on the day.
Queens scored two runs in the top of the seventh to make it 9-4, but Jameson would not allow any more runs to finish off the sweep for Mercy.
Pellizzaro went 3-for-4 with three RBI and Wootten went 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs. McCormick went 2-for-4 with an RBI and her first collegiate home run. Newham went 2-for-3 and Mueller batted 2-for-4 and Lemus went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Junior Raina Gorman (Ardsley, N.Y./Florida Southwestern State College) pitched 5.2 innings with two runs allowed to earn the win and Jameson pitched the final 1.1 innings to earn the save.
Queens was led by Ann Grimshaw who went 2-for-2 with two RBI and Vanessa Juengerkes went the distance with nine runs allowed to take the loss.
Mercy resumes action on Monday, April 16th when they play at St. Thomas Aquinas at 2:30 p.m.
