SPARKILL, N.Y. (Apr. 18, 2023) – Powered by one run allowed in seven innings from senior Alexi Benson (Fredericksburg, Va./Riverbend) and RBI from junior Shannon Sisco (Cicero, N.Y./Mansfield University) and sophomore Victoria Seppala (Abington, Mass./Abington) in game one, the Mercy College softball team earned a 3-1 win over ECC foe St. Thomas Aquinas College before falling 6-2 in the nightcap on Tuesday afternoon at Spartan Field.
The Mavericks (11-27, 6-8 ECC) snap a two-game losing streak with the game one win, while the Spartans (19-14-1, 8-3-1 ECC) have won three of their last four games.
Game 1: Mercy 3, St. Thomas Aquinas 1
Mercy took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third. Freshman Elizabeth Stark (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) singled to lead off the inning and advanced to second following a junior Mia Harris (West Harrison, N.Y./Harrison) sacrifice bunt. Stark later scored on a Sisco RBI groundout to make it 1-0.
The Spartans tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth on an Abbie Landrum home run to center field.
Mercy retook the lead at 2-1 in the top of the sixth. Senior Samantha Franck (La Habra Heights, Calif./La Habra) singled and sophomore Maddie Lula (Milford, Conn./Jonathan Law) pinch ran for her. Senior Sydney Johnston (Virginia Beach, Va./First Colonial) then singled moving Lula to third base. Johnston stole second and Lula scored following an error by the second baseman to make it 2-1.
The Mavericks tacked on a run in the top of the seventh to take a 3-1 lead. Sisco doubled with two outs and scored on a Seppala RBI single to give Mercy a 3-1 lead.
Benson tossed a scoreless seventh inning to finish off the complete game win.
Sisco and Seppala both went 1-for-4 with an RBI and Johnston went 2-for-3. Freshman Cayla Crawford (Hemet, Calif./West Valley), Franck and Stark all went 1-for-3. Benson allowed one run and four hits with four strikeouts to earn her fifth win of the season.
St. Thomas Aquinas was led by Landrum who went 2-for-3 with an RBI and allowed one earned run in seven innings to take the loss.
Mercy had seven hits and no errors and St. Thomas Aquinas had four hits and four errors.
Game 2: St. Thomas Aquinas 6, Mercy 2
Mercy took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Sisco singled to lead off the game and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Crawford later singled home Sisco to give Mercy the early 1-0 lead.
The score remained 1-0 until the bottom of the second when the Spartans scored two unearned runs to take a 2-1 lead. St. Thomas Aquinas added an unearned run in the third inning to increase their lead to 3-1.
The hosts tacked on two more runs in the fourth inning to build a 5-1 lead.
Mercy scored a run in the sixth inning to make it 5-2. Seppala tripled and scored on a Franck RBI single.
The Spartans recorded their final run in the bottom of the sixth on an Eliana Raposo home run to make it 6-2.
Mercy could not score in the seventh inning, giving St. Thomas Aquinas the game two win.
Crawford went 2-for-3 with an RBI and Franck went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Seppala went 1-for-2 and Sisco went 1-for-3. Senior Angelina Oquendo (Middle Island, N.Y./Longwood) allowed one earned run in 3.1 innings to take the loss.
Mercy had five hits and two errors and St. Thomas Aquinas had five hits and one error.
Head Coach Jaime Lorenzo and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, April 22nd when they host Molloy for Senior Day at 12 p.m.
