Ft. Myers, Fla. (March 15, 2010) – The Stevens Institute of Technology softball team dropped both ends of a doubleheader Monday afternoon at the Gene Cusack Tournament, losing to Salem State College 5-0 and SUNY New Paltz by a score of 17-3. The Ducks drop to 0-4 on the season with the defeats. Junior Sarah Parker drove in two of the team's three runs and posted a.500 batting average over both games.
In the first contest against Salem State, Krista Sticco led off the game with a walk. With one out she stole second, but was stranded there as the inning ended. The Vikings scored in their half of the first on a one-out RBI single by Lauren Garchinsky (Saugus, Mass.). The Ducks got themselves out of further trouble with first baseman Denise Wagner gunning down a runner trying to score at the plate to end the inning.
Stevens threatened in the second, as Wagner knocked a single to open the frame, followed by Parker's double to put runners on second and third with nobody out, but again the Ducks couldn't bring them home. The score remained 1-0 until the bottom of the fourth.
Katie Oram (Lynne, Mass.) started things for Salem St. by ripping a double in the Salem St. fourth. Three subsequent hits and four Stevens errors in the inning led to four more Viking runs in the frame and made the score 5-0.
Both pitchers would face the minimum batters in the fifth. Stevens had back-to-back one-out hits from Brianna Sticco and Lauren Hurley in the sixth, but could not find a way to score them. Stevens never solved Viking starter Sarra Bergeron (Methuen, Mass.) in game one, and she was credited with both the win and a shutout in Salem's 5-0 win.
In game two, the Ducks came out with guns blazing, scoring three runs in the top of the first to open the game. Krista Sticco beat out an infield single, and Hurley worked a walk to put the first two batters on for Stevens. After an error on Clair Strom's sacrifice attempt, Sticco came home to score and Stevens had runners on the corners with only one out.
Strom proceeded to steal second, and Parker came through with a 2 RBI double to left to make the score 3-0. Wagner followed that hit with a single of her own, and with two outs Victoria Webber laid down a bunt single to load the bases, but Stevens left the bags full after batting around the order in the first.
New Paltz countered with three runs of their own in their half of the inning, as Jillian Gallagher (Buchanan, N.Y.), Victoria Kyle (Staten Island, N.Y.) and Samantha Barra (Islip, N.Y.) all came around to score for the Eagles.
After Stevens had their turn at bat, New Paltz quickly hung another three runs on the board against the Ducks. The Eagles walked three times in the inning, and got base hits from Gallagher and Melyssa Cilmi (Huntington Station, N.Y.) to make the score 6-3 in favor of NP.
Parker led off the third inning with a double to left field for Stevens, and was advanced to third by a productive out by Wagner. That was as close as the Ducks would come to scoring for the rest of the afternoon, however, as the Eagles continued to add to their lead.
A 10-run third inning spelled defeat for Stevens, though they continued to fight with Strom registering a single in the top of the fifth inning. But it wasn't enough, as the team dropped a shortend, 5-inning decision to SUNY New Paltz by a final of 17-3.
Stevens will play two more games Tuesday, against the University of Scranton and in-state rival Richard Stockton College. Game one begins at 9 a.m.
