STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (Apr. 27, 2023) – Powered by a game-high four hits from senior Nicole Smart (Santa Clarita, Calif./Golden Valley) in game one and a game-high two RBI from junior Mia Harris (West Harrison, N.Y./Harrison) and sophomore Victoria Seppala (Abington, Mass./Abington) in game two, Mercy College softball team earned 7-2 and 6-3 wins over ECC foe College of Staten Island on Thursday afternoon.
The Mavericks (15-29, 10-10 ECC) win the season series against the Dolphins (11-37, 3-17 ECC) and have secured the No. 3 seed in next week's ECC Championship.
Game 1: Mercy 7, Staten Island 2
Mercy took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first. Junior Shannon Sisco (Cicero, N.Y./Mansfield University) led off the game with a walk and stole second before scoring on a senior Sydney Johnston (Virginia Beach, Va./First Colonial) RBI single up the middle to make it 1-0. Smart then singled home Seppala to make it 2-0 and junior Alexandra Karavias (Westbury, N.Y./WT Clarke) singled home Johnston to give Mercy a 3-0 lead.
The score remained 3-0 until the bottom of the second when the Dolphins scored two runs to make it 3-2.
Mercy increased their lead to 4-2 in the fourth inning. Sisco reached on an error by the shortstop and freshman Cayla Crawford (Hemet, Calif./West Valley) walked before Sisco scored after Crawford stole second.
The Mavericks added three more runs in the seventh inning to make it 7-2. Smart doubled to lead off the inning and scored on a Harris RBI single to make it 5-2. Sisco then singled home senior Hailey Puglia (Holtsville, N.Y./Assumption University) who singled earlier in the inning, to make it 6-2. Crawford plated the final run on a sacrifice fly to right field to give Mercy a 7-2 lead.
Freshman Mackayla Secoda (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) pitched a scoreless seventh inning to give Mercy the win.
Smart went 4-for-4 with an RBI and Sisco went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Harris went 1-for-2 with an RBI and Johnston went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Karavias went 1-for-3 with an RBI and Puglia went 1-for-4. Secoda pitched a complete game with no earned runs allowed and four strikeouts to earn her second win.
Staten Island was led by Rianne Mayer who went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Alexis Miramontes allowed three runs in 0.2 innings to take the loss.
Mercy had 10 hits and one error and Staten Island had six hits and two errors.
Game 2: Mercy 6, Staten Island 3
Mercy took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a Crawford home run to right field. The Dolphins tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the first.
The Mavericks scored a run in the second inning to take a 2-1 lead. Johnston walked to lead off the inning and later scored after Harris reached on a fielder's choice to make it 2-1.
Mercy tacked on four more runs in the fourth inning to take a 6-1 lead. Puglia singled home the first run to make it 3-1 and Harris grounded out to second to bring home the second run of the inning. Seppala later hit a two-run double to give Mercy a 6-1 lead. The Dolphins scored two runs in the bottom of the inning to make it 6-3.
Freshman Marina Provencio (Saugus, Calif./Saugus) would not allow a run after the fourth inning, giving Mercy the game two win and the sweep.
Crawford went 2-for-3 with her fifth home run of the season and Seppala went 1-for-4 with two RBI. Harris went 1-for-4 with two RBI and Puglia went 1-for-2 with an RBI. Johnston went 1-for-1 with two runs and Smart went 1-for-3 with a run. Provencio allowed three earned runs in seven innings to earn her sixth win of the season.
Staten Island was led by Jessica Carreon who went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Kelsey Strayer allowed three earned runs in three innings to take the loss.
Mercy had seven hits and no errors and Staten Island had seven hits and three errors.
Head Coach Jaime Lorenzo and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, May 3rd when they play in the ECC Championship.
