FORT MYERS, Fla. (March 13, 2011) – Sophomore Molly Herforth got a win with a complete game performance in game one and went 4-for-4 at the plate as the Stevens Institute of Technology softball team (2-0) opened its 2011 season with a doubleheader sweep at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Softball Classic in Ft. Myers, Fla. Stevens topped St. Lawrence University in game one and Albright College in game two by identical scores of 3-2 and both in walk-off fashion, beating Albright in nine innings.
Game 1 vs. St. Lawrence
Both teams scored twice in the first inning, with the Saints capitalizing on a Stevens error to score two unearned runs with one out before Duck starter Molly Herforth struck out the final two batters of the inning to prevent further damage.
In the bottom half of the first, Stevens returned the two-score favor as leadoff hitter Lauren Hurley reached on an error and Molly Herforth walked before senior captain Naomi Sacks lined a double to the wall to drive in both runners and knot the game at two.
Herforth and her counterpart in the circle Meg Goodemote (Queensbury, N.Y.) both started putting up goose eggs after the eventful first inning, with the pitchers combining for 13 strikeouts in the contest.
The Saints threatened momentarily in the second as their first two batters reached base, but a heads-up play by third baseman Victoria Webber enabled the Ducks to get the lead runner at third as she fielded the sacrifice attempt and threw to the shortstop Sacks covering for her at third base. Herforth got the next two batters to fly out to center and keep the score 2-2.
In the Ducks' half of the second, Danielle DeFeo walked with one out. Pitcher Molly Herforth- who went 3-for-3 with a walk at the plate in game one- stroked a two-out double to the wall but DeFeo was thrown out at the plate attempting to score the go-ahead run.
Stevens sophomore catcher Clair Strom's single up the middle provided the only baserunner for either team in the third inning, and DeFeo earned her first collegiate hit with an infield single in the fourth.
In the fifth, Herforth led off with a single through the left side and Sacks moved her over to scoring position with a sacrifice bunt, but Stevens couldn't push the run across.
The Saints staged a two-out rally in the sixth and loaded the bases, but again Herforth wiggled out of trouble and induced a flyout to Hurley in center to keep the game tied. Both teams went in order in their next turns at bat, setting the stage for the bottom of the seventh.
Hurley was hit by a pitch with one out, and moved to second on a passed ball on the next pitch. Herforth then continued her hot hitting with a line single to right, but it was hit too hard to allow Hurley to score. With one out, Sacks stepped up to the plate and hit a dribbler back to the circle. Goodemote checked the runner at third and turned to get the out at first, but the ball was dropped on the exchange and trickled away from the Saints first baseman, allowing Hurley to scamper home with the winning run in the Ducks' season-opening victory.
Game 2 vs. Albright
Freshman Kayla Berardi took the ball for the Ducks for her first collegiate start and carried a no-hit bid into the final inning. She struck out the first two college batters she saw before getting the no. 3 hitter to ground out softly to second for a 1-2-3 top of the first.
Berardi led off the game for Stevens in the bottom of the first, and worked a 12-pitch walk - including eight foul balls - as she performed her leadoff duties to the letter. Hurley moved her to second with a groundout and Sacks followed with a clean single to the right side, but both runners were still on the bases as the inning ended scoreless.
Berardi issued a walk for her only baserunner allowed in the second inning, and then set the Lions down in order in the third as well.
In the bottom of the fourth, freshman first baseman Stephanie Senkevich worked her second walk of the contest to lead off the frame, and moved all the way to third on two wild pitches with still nobody out. Noreen Jordan then became the second Stevens batter to walk that inning, and immediately afterward the Ducks ran a first-and-third double steal attempt that featured Jordan creating a rundown, allowing Senkovich to score the game's first run. Berardi helped her own cause with a single in the inning as well.
In the fifth, with two outs freshman second baseman Danielle DeFeo made a great play behind the first base bag, ranging far to her left and flipping to Senkovich to preserve Berardi's no-hit bid. Berardi would retire 13 batters in a row at one stretch of the game, spanning the second through the end of the sixth inning.
The Lions used a couple of bloop base hits to tie the game up in the top of the seventh, and were threatening to score more as they loaded the bases with one out and one run already home. But Berardi buckled down and struck out the next two hitters to keep the game knotted up.
In the top of the eighth Albright scored the runner placed on second to start, but they were denied an insurance run as Hurley charged in on a two-out single and gunned down the Lion runner trying to score.
Stevens, needing at least a run to keep pace in their half of the eighth, got it quickly as Herforth ripped a pinch-hit single to right center that scored the inherited runner and tied things up again.
Albright loaded the bases in the ninth with nobody out, but a shallow fly ball to Hurley in center, a clutch strikeout and a grounder to second kept the Lions off the board it the frame.
In the ninth, Victoria Webber was placed on second to start the frame. DeFeo led off with a single, moving Webber to third. With one out, Webber brought the game to an exciting climax with her textbook fadeaway slide on a Lauren Hurley groundout to third, scoring with two outs just ahead of the first baseman's throw to complete the Stevens sweep.
The Ducks will be right back in action Monday at 9 a.m. as they take on Amherst and North Park at the second day of the Gene Cusic Classic. You can follow all the action at twitter.com/StevensDucks.
