MADISON, N.J. (March 20, 2012) – The Stevens Institute of Technology softball program continued its stretch of tight games to open the 2012 season, dropping a twinbill to Fairleigh Dickinson University on Tuesday by scores of 3-0 and 8-7. Stevens nearly erased an 8-0 deficit in Game Two and had the tying run thrown out at the plate in the seventh inning. Freshman Jamie DeGennaro (Pearl River, N.Y.) was 4-for-5 with three runs batted in during the second game for the Ducks.

Game One

Stevens ran into the Devils' ace Megan McInaw (Hillsborough, N.J.) in the first game of the afternoon and was unable to get a runner past second base until the sixth inning. Meanwhile, FDU scored single runs in the first, fifth and sixth innings to take a 3-0 lead they would eventually win by.

For her part, Stevens starter Kayla Berardi (Brookfield, Conn.) did not pitch poorly, walking just one batter in six innings. She struck out five Devils and allowed five FDU hits.

After the first, the game was a taught 1-0 affair until the bottom of the fifth, when the Devils' No. 9 hitter hit a one-out homer to right-centerfield that gave FDU some breathing room. An additional insurance run in the sixth proved to be too much for the Ducks to overcome.

Stevens first baseman Stephanie Senkevich (Washington, N.J.) had two singles in the first game, while the Ducks' middle infield of Danielle DeFeo (Andover, N.J.) and Christine Minervini (Toms River, N.J.) earned the other two Duck basehits in the game.

Game Two

FDU raced out to an 8-0 lead in the first two frames of the second game. The Devils scored two unearned runs in the first and then scored six in the second – all with two outs – to jump out ahead. Berardi was summoned to the circle after that and pitched a remarkable four-and-one-third innings of perfect relief that allowed the Ducks to mount a comeback bid.

Sarah Parker (Fredricksbrug, Va.) kicked things off in the top of the third, earning a walk with two down. Consecutive singles by DeGennaro and Clair Strom (El Paso, Texas) brought Parker home and scored the Ducks' first run of the afternoon.

Stevens did it with two out again in the fourth: Krista Sticco (Leonia, N.J.) walked, DeFeo singled down the leftfield line, and Parker's subsequent single loaded the bases. A DeGennaro single to right brought in two baserunners and chipped the Devil advantage down to 8-3.

The Ducks scored three with a big rally in the sixth. DeFeo, Parker, DeGennaro, Noreen Jordan (Orangeburg, N.Y.) and Noelle Mulligan (Staten Island, N.Y.) all had basehits in the frame as the teams went to the seventh with FDU ahead 8-6.

FDU pulled out all the stops in the Ducks' final at-bat, bringing McInaw back in to try and nail down the victory. Minervini greeted her by earning a walk, and DeFeo dropped down a nice bunt for a single to put the tying run on base with nobody out. Parker sacrificed the runners to scoring position, and DeGennaro's single to right scored the runner from third but DeFeo was thrown out at the dish for the second out. McInaw then induced a popup to earn the save and the FDU victory.

Stevens will have its home opener on Saturday as the team hosts New Jersey City University at the Weehawken Waterfront. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.

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