SPARKILL, N.Y. (Apr. 10, 2022) – Powered by four different Mavericks recording an RBI in game one, the Mercy College softball team earned a 7-3 win in game one before falling 7-0 in the nightcap to ECC foe St. Thomas Aquinas College on Sunday afternoon at Spartan Field.

The Mavericks (6-27, 4-6 ECC) split their fourth straight ECC doubleheader and hand the Spartans (14-13, 7-1 ECC) their first ECC loss of the season.

Game 1: Mercy 7, STAC 3

Mercy jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Senior Alexis Crawford (Hemet, Calif./West Valley High) singled to lead off the game and stole second. Crawford later advanced to third on a groundout and junior Samantha Franck (La Habra Heights, Calif./La Habra) reached on a hit by pitch. Junior Sydney Johnston (Virginia Beach, Va./First Colonial) then hit a two-run double to left field, giving Mercy a 2-0 lead.

The Spartans tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the first on an Emilie Olivier two-run home run.

The score remained 2-2 until the third inning when Mercy scored a run to take a 3-2 lead. Sophomore Shannon Sisco (Cicero, N.Y./Mansfield University) singled to lead off the inning and Franck followed with a triple to give Mercy the lead.

STAC tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the third on three hits and one Mercy error.

Mercy retook the lead in the top of the fifth. Sisco singled and stole second before Franck singled to put runners on first and third. Johnston then grounded out to shortstop, allowing Sisco to score the go-ahead run.

The Mavericks added on three more runs in the sixth inning to take a 7-3 lead. Senior Ariana Ricci (Sacramento, Calif./Cosumnes Oaks) singled and later scored on a Crawford RBI single to right field, making it 5-3. Sisco later delivered a two-run triple that scored Crawford and freshman Maddie Lula (Milford, Conn./Jonathan Law) to make it 7-3.

Junior Alexi Benson (Fredericksburg, Va./Riverbend) did not allow a run in the sixth and seventh innings to give Mercy the game one win.

Johnston went 2-for-4 with three RBI and Sisco went 3-for-4 with two RBI. Crawford went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs and Franck went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Lula and junior Nicole Smart (Santa Clarita, Calif./Golden Valley) went 1-for-3 and Ricci went 1-for-4. Benson pitched a complete game with two earned runs allowed and seven strikeouts to earn her fifth win of the season.

STAC was led by Olivier who went 2-for-3 with two RBI. Abbie Landrum allowed seven earned runs to take the loss.

Mercy had 13 hits and four errors and STAC had 10 hits and three errors.

Game 2: STAC 7, Mercy 0

The Spartans recorded six runs on four hits and a Mercy error to take a 6-0 lead after one inning of play.

The score stayed 6-0 until the third inning when Amanda Schweitzer hit a home run to make it 7-0.

Smart went 1-for-2 and Johnston, Franck and Sisco all went 1-for-3. Senior Sabrina Gonzalez (Royal Palm Beach, Fla./Wellington) pitched 0.2 innings with five earned runs to take the loss. Junior Angelina Oquendo (Middle Island, N.Y./Longwood) pitched 5.1 innings with just one run allowed.

STAC was led by Amanda Demmerle who went 2-for-3 with three RBI. Carissa Della Vecchia struck out 10 over seven innings to earn the win.

Mercy had four hits and one error and STAC had eight hits and no errors.

Interim Head Coach Jaime Lorenzo and the Mavericks resume action on Friday, April 15th when they host D'Youville at 1 p.m.