WEEHAWKEN, N.J. (April 25, 2010) – The Stevens Institute of Technology softball team lost both games of a doubleheader to Utica College Sunday at a rainy Weehawken Waterfront, by scores of 9-1 and 14-6 and with both contests ending in the sixth inning. Lauren Hurley, Naomi Sacks and Molly Herforth all had multi-hit games for the Ducks in game two, including Hurley's fourth homerun of the season.
The weather wreaked havoc on the proceedings, as the teams combined for 18 errors in the sloppy conditions.
Utica got things going in the first inning of the first game, scoring two runs in their half of the frame.
Stevens responded with a run of its own in the bottom of the first, as Brianna Sticco and Sacks worked a couple of one-out walks before Clair Strom stroked a double to the opposite field over the rightfielder's head and off the wall to score Sticco and make the score2-1.
But the Pioneers would hang three runs on the scoreboard in the second and add three more in the third to take a commanding 8-1 lead.
Utica starter Haley Butler (New Hartford, N.Y.) shut Stevens down after the first inning, and did not allow another SIT hit or run for the rest of the contest.
Stevens leftfielder Maggie Weigel made a nice catch at the wall to end the fifth inning for Utica and temporarily prevent the use of the eight-run rule in the game.
Bridgette Plummer (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) hit a homer to lead off the Utica sixth, pushing the Pioneer lead to eight, and Butler proceeded to get the Ducks down in order in the bottom half of the inning to end game one.
In the second game, with Stevens batting first, the Ducks drew first blood after a scoreless first as they loaded the bases with nobody out in the second on a walk, and error and a bunt single by Victoria Webber. Pitcher Molly Herforth helped her own cause with a two-out RBI single up the middle to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead.
Utica would tie things up in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI single by Elizabeth Dennis (Canastota, N.Y.).
Stevens scored once more in the top of the third, as Sacks led off with a single down the leftfield line, and again the Ducks loaded the bases with nobody out, as Strom reached on an error and Sarah Parker beat out her sacrifice attempt for an infield single. Webber got the run home with a sacrifice fly to make the score2-1 in favor of Stevens.
The lead was short-lived, however, as the Pioneers scored 10 runs in the bottom of the third, highlighted by two homeruns by Plummer in the inning.
The Ducks would not go quietly, as they immediately scored three runs in the next half-inning. Herforth led off with a basehit up the middle, and Brianna Sticco doubled to right-centerfield to score the runner. Two Utica errors in the inning contributed to two more runs for the Ducks, and after the third out the score was 11-5.
Lauren Hurley led off the Stevens sixth with a majestic homerun over the rightfield wall, her team-leading fourth of the season.
Utica would proceed to score two unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth to make the score 14-6 and force the use of the eight-run rule, bringing the Ducks' final homestand of the season to a close. In total, Stevens knocked nine hits in game two.
Stevens will be back in action for the final weekend of the season on May 1 and 2, beginning Saturday at Alfred University. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
