DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Mar. 28, 2023) – Despite a home run from senior Samantha Franck (La Habra Heights, Calif./La Habra) in game one and an RBI double from senior Nicole Smart (Santa Clarita, Calif./Golden Valley) in game two, the Mercy College softball team dropped 11-2 and 11-1 decisions to ECC foe St. Thomas Aquinas College on Tuesday afternoon at Smith Field.
The Mavericks (5-19, 0-2 ECC) suffer their first home losses of the season and have dropped four straight meetings against the Spartans (9-7, 2-0 ECC).
Game 1: STAC 11, Mercy 2 (6 Innings)
The game remained scoreless until Franck hit a leadoff home run in the bottom of the second to give Mercy a 1-0 lead.
The Mavericks held a 1-0 lead until the top of the fourth when the Spartans scored three runs on four hits and a Mercy error to take a 3-1 lead. St. Thomas Aquinas added six runs in the fifth to take a 9-1 lead.
Mercy scored a run in the bottom of the fifth to make it 9-2. Junior Shannon Sisco (Cicero, N.Y./Mansfield University) doubled and later scored on a wild pitch.
The Spartans added two more runs in the top of the sixth to take an 11-2 lead. Mercy went down in order in the bottom of the sixth to give St. Thomas Aquinas the game one win via the run-rule.
Franck went 1-for-3 with her team-leading third home run of the season and Sisco went 2-for-3. Senior Hailey Puglia (Holtsville, N.Y./Assumption University) went 1-for-2 and sophomore Victoria Seppala (Abington, Mass./Abington) went 1-for-3. Senior Alexi Benson (Fredericksburg, Va./Riverbend) allowed eight earned runs to take the loss.
The Spartans were led by DeAnna DeCaro who went 2-for-4 with three RBI. Abbie Landrum allowed one earned run in six innings to earn the win.
Mercy had five hits and four errors and STAC had 13 hits and two errors.
Game 2: STAC 11, Mercy 1 (5 Innings)
The Spartans scored five runs on three hits and two Mercy errors to take a 5-0 lead in the top of the first.
STAC added a run in the top of the fourth to make it 6-0. The Mavericks scored their lone run of the game in the bottom of the fourth when Seppala led off the inning with a double and scored on a Smart double to make it 6-1.
The Spartans tacked on five more runs in the top of the fifth to take an 11-1 lead. Mercy went down in order in the bottom of the fifth to give STAC the game two win via the run-rule.
Smart went 1-for-2 with an RBI and Seppala went 1-for-2. Sisco and Puglia both went 1-for-2. Senior Angelina Oquendo (Middle Island, N.Y./Longwood) allowed three earned runs in 3.2 innings to take the loss.
STAC was led by Emilie Olivier who went 1-for-3 with four RBI. Carissa Della Vecchia allowed one run and struck out 11 to earn the win.
Mercy had four hits and three errors and STAC had 11 hits and no errors.
Head Coach Jaime Lorenzo and the Mavericks resume action on Thursday, March 30th when they play at Molloy at 3 p.m.
