DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (July 1, 2019) – For the fifth year in a row, Mercy College Athletics will recap the year by counting down the Top-10 most memorable moments of the 2018-19 season, with all 10 sports represented.
Mercy College Athletics will release a Top-10 moment, as chosen by the athletics staff, with a recap every Monday and Friday for the next five weeks, culminating with the top moment from the 2018-19 athletic year being unveiled on Friday, July 26th.
No. 8 – Softball Records Fourth Straight Season of 20 or More Wins
Softball comes in at No. 8 in our countdown of the Top-10 Moments from 2018-19 after posting their fourth straight season with 20 or more wins.
Mercy was coming off back-to-back seasons of qualifying for the ECC Tournament and winning the ECC Championship in 2017. The Mavericks were picked third in the ECC Preseason Coaches Poll and welcomed eight newcomers ahead of the 2019 season.
Head Coach Mike Fazio and the Mavericks got their season underway on February 15th with a doubleheader split against Chowan and Francis Marion. Junior Erika Byrne had a grand slam and six RBI in her debut in leading Mercy to a 9-4 victory over Chowan. Mercy moved to 2-2 on the year on the 16th when they split with Emmanuel and host Francis Marion.
Following the week's games, senior Kaylee Stevens was named ECC Softball Player of the Week and Byrne, senior Mikayla Newham and sophomore Hannah Mueller were named to the Honor Roll.
Mercy headed down to Florida to open up the month of March. Mueller went 8-for-8 at the plate with three RBI to lead the Mavericks to wins over Stonehill and Seton Hill on March 4th. Mercy moved to 6-2 on the year when Mueller recorded three more RBI and senior Alexis Carmichael and freshman Katelyn Shephard earned the wins in the circle against Walsh and Gannon.
The Mavericks dropped to 6-4 after back-to-back losses to West Virginia Wesleyan and Wilmington. Mercy got back into the win column on March 8th when they swept Indiana (Pa.) and Merrimack to move to 8-4 on the year. Mercy concluded the Florida trip with a split against No. 12 Saint Anselm and Bentley to end the trip at 9-5 on the year. After the week was over, Mueller was named ECC Player of the Week, freshman Ylannah Bowman was tabbed Rookie of the Week and Shephard was named to the Honor Roll.
Mercy returned to New York and opened their northern slate with two losses at Adelphi on March 17th. The Mavericks bounced back on March 25th when junior Erica Handegard had five RBI in game one and Stevens had a walk-off RBI single for her 100th career hit in game two in a doubleheader sweep at Felician, improving Mercy to 11-7.
In their home opener on March 26th, the Mavericks dropped both ends of a doubleheader to LIU Post in their ECC opener, falling to 11-9 on the year. Mercy responded with a split against Southern Connecticut State on March 28th as Mueller had three hits and two RBI to lead the Mavericks to a game two win.
Fazio and the Mavericks continued ECC play when they visited Molloy on March 30th. Senior Raina Gorman pitched a complete-game shutout in game one to help lead the Mavericks to another split. Following the split with the Lions, the Mavericks sat at 13-11 overall and 1-3 in the ECC.
Mercy resumed action on April 2nd when they dropped two games at New York Tech despite a team-high five hits on the day from Newham. The Mavericks came back two days later and earned a sweep of Queens as freshman Jordan DiGiacinto hit the go-ahead home run and Mueller had three RBI in game two. Mercy concluded the week with a split at Bridgeport to see their record be at 16-14 overall and 4-6 in the ECC. Following the week Newham was named to the Honor Roll after batting a team-high .579.
The Mavericks took on St. Thomas Aquinas on April 9th and came away with a split to move to 17-15 overall and 5-7 in the ECC. A DiGiacinto walk-off home run in game one the next day led Mercy to a split with non-conference foe Pace. Mercy dropped two more games to first-place LIU Post on April 11th before earning a sweep over Molloy on April 13th. The second win of the day over the Lions gave Mercy 20 wins for the fourth straight year and the seventh time in nine seasons under Fazio. The Mavericks ended the week with two losses to No. 18 Georgian Court on April 14th, falling to 20-20 on the year. After the week was over, Stevens was named to the ECC Honor Roll after hitting a team-best .381 with four RBI.
Mercy opened the next week with two losses at Queens on April 16th to drop to 20-22 overall and 7-11 in ECC play. The Mavericks got back to their winning ways when they earned a split with Saint Rose on April 17th.
On April 23rd, Mercy dropped two games to Bridgeport at Smith Field to fall to 21-25 overall and 7-13 in ECC play. The Mavericks saw their ECC Tournament hopes slipping away but got back in the hunt with a sweep over St. Thomas Aquinas on April 25th to move to 23-25 overall and 9-13 in ECC action.
Mercy concluded the week with a Senior Day doubleheader against New York Tech on April 27th needing a sweep to secure the fourth and final ECC Tournament spot. The Mavericks took a 6-0 lead in game one before New York Tech stormed back with ten straight runs to earn a 10-6 win in eight innings. Mercy took game two, 8-6, to end the regular season with a 24-26 record overall and 10-14 record in ECC play. The Mavericks needed New York Tech to lose both games to St. Thomas Aquinas the next day, but the Bears went on to win both to secure the last ECC Tournament spot. After the week was over, Mueller was named ECC Player of the Week and DiGiacinto was tabbed to the Honor Roll.
The awards piled in after the season was over. Newham and Mueller were named First Team All-ECC and Stevens took home Second Team honors. Mueller also received D2CCA First Team All-Region honors and Mueller and Newham received All-Region honors from the NFCA. Mueller capped off the awards by being named D2CCA Softball All-American Honorable Mention, becoming the first All-American in program history after leading the ECC in batting average (.456) and ranking third in hits (67).
The Mavericks will look to make it five 20 win seasons in a row in 2020 and will look to make it back to the ECC Tournament and NCAA Tournament under Fazio.
Schedule for the Top-10 Moments of the 2018-19 Season
Every Monday and Friday for the next five weeks, the Mercy College Athletics Department will release the Top-10 moments one at a time beginning with the No. 10 moment on Monday, June 24th. The No. 1 moment will be unveiled on Friday, July 26th.
No. 1 – July 26
No. 2 – July 22
No. 3 – July 19
No. 4 – July 15
No. 5 – July 12
No. 6 – July 8
No. 7 – July 5
No. 8 – July 1
No. 9 – Bryan Griffin Named First Team All-Met and First Team All-ECC
No. 10 – Amber Brown Named First Team All-Met and Second Team All-ECC
