HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 26, 2013) – The Stevens Institute of Technology softball team will host Ramapo College in the Ducks' home-opening doubleheader tomorrow, Wednesday, March 27 at 3 p.m. at the Weehawken Waterfront.
 
Game notes
 
Ramapo is 5-5 this spring following a Spring Break trip to Clermont, Fla. in which the Roadrunners recorded a +3 run differential.  In their last two games on Friday, Ramapo fell, 3-2, to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire on a walk-off single after playing a tie ballgame through five innings.  The Roadrunners fell behind, 2-0, in the bottom of the first inning but came right back to tie things up on a two-RBI single by senior shortstop Kelsey Higgins (Wall, N.J.).  Junior pitcher Nicole Schneider (Hillsdale, N.J.) surrendered just one earned run on five hits, two walks and one hit-by-pitch to suffer the loss, dropping her record to 2-4 on the season.
 
The Roadrunners bounced back that afternoon, however, to post a 1-0 victory over the University of Wisconsin-Stout.  Sophomore outfielder Taylor Boffalo (Paramus, N.J.) led off the bottom of the third inning with a single and was replaced by freshman utility player Tess Sala (Islip, N.Y.), who would score on a two-out RBI single by sophomore outfielder Jaclyn Lima (Linden, N.J.).  Wisconsin-Stout threatened to score in the fifth inning, suffering a throw-out at home and loading the bases with two outs before a pop-up ended the frame, but Ramapo would hold on behind junior pitcher Harley Masiello (West Milford, N.J.), who improved her record to 3-1 in allowing just three hits while striking out two over seven innings, although she did walk four and hit two batters.
 
Ramapo boasts incredible depth, with 12 players already having seen 10 or more at-bats and eight regulars batting over .300 for Ramapo, led by Lima, who is batting .367 with team-highs in on-base percentage (.387) and slugging percentage (.567) as well.  Lima has also hit the team's only home run this spring and paces the squad with six RBI.  Junior outfielder Caitlin Smith (Hawthorne, N.J.) has belted a team-high five doubles to post the second-best slugging percentage (.522) on the team while Sala has been successful in all six of her stolen bases, mostly appearing as a pinch-runner.  In the circle, Masiello leads the rotation with a miniscule 0.50 ERA, having struck out 19 hitters and allowed just a .206 batting average against over 28.0 innings, while Schneider has recorded a 2.77 ERA over 30.1 innings.
 
Stevens picked up its first win in a doubleheader split at New Jersey City University on Saturday, and was in line to take both games until the bottom of the seventh inning in Game Two.  A triple by senior centerfielder Lauren Hurley (Sparta, N.J.) and passed ball scored two in the top of the second inning, a margin which Stevens held through the first six innings behind a dominant showing in the circle by sophomore Brianna Sandone (Haddon Township, N.J.), who did not surrender a hit until the fifth inning.  The Ducks managed to load the bases in the top of the sixth but were unable to tack any more runs on, which NJCU took advantage of in rallying to tie the game on a two-run homer and win, 3-2, on a bases-loaded walk.
 
The Ducks were first to get on the board in Game One as well; freshman right fielder Kelsey Dempsey (Broomfield, Colo.) doubled in junior shortstop Danielle DeFeo (Andover, N.J.) for the 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning and added two more in the fourth.  Three leadoff singles loaded the bases with no outs for Hurley to drive one home on a groundout while a passed ball scored the other to give the Ducks a 3-0 lead.  Stevens solidified the victory in the top of the seventh, again loading the bases with no outs before senior pitcher Molly Herforth (Pompton Plains, N.J.) singled in one and DeFeo brought two more home for the 6-0 lead.  NJCU threatened with runners on first and second with no outs in the bottom of the fourth inning, but it was not until the bottom of the seventh that the Gothic Knights put a run on the board, and even then only one came home to make the final score 6-1.  A season-high six Ducks got hits and all but one reached base in the game, with Herforth starring both at the plate (2-3 1BB 1R 1 RBI) and in the circle (7.0 IP 3 H 0 ER 5 K).
 
Herforth and freshman Sydney Spitz (Shelton, Conn.) lead the team with a .333 batting average, with Herforth also topping the charts in on-base percentage (.429) and slugging percentage (.417).  DeFeo has driven in five runs while batting .281 with a .378 OBP while junior third baseman Stephanie Senkevich (Washington, N.J.) has drawn a team-high five hit-by-pitches to post a .333 OBP as well.  The Ducks have been active on the base paths, going 9-11 on stolen base attempts, led by freshman left fielder Gavriella Risman-Jones (New Boston, N.H.), who swiped four bags on four attempts over her first six games.  Dempsey has gotten hot lately, posting a .417/.563/.750 slash line, scoring four runs, driving two in and belting the team's only home run over her past five games.  In the circle, Herforth, who was named the Empire 8 Conference Pitcher of the Week for her performance at NJCU, has struck out 12 hitters while throwing a team-high 33.1 innings.
 
The teams faced off just once last season, with Ramapo taking a tight 3-2 affair in which the Roadrunners got a walk-off single to win.  Ramapo had threatened as early as the bottom of the first inning with runners on second and third with no outs, but then-sophomore Kayla Berardi (Brookfield, Conn.) pitched her way out of trouble to start off an incredible performance in the circle.  She would finish with a whopping 12 strikeouts with just one walk over six innings.  It was not until the bottom of the fourth that Ramapo was able to take the lead, which came on a two-run homer by then-junior Lisa Orlando (Bloomfield, Colo.), but Stevens was able to get one back in the top of the fifth inning, when a sacrifice bunt moved a pair of leadoff singles to second and third before one scored on a passed ball.  Ramapo loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth with one out, but Berardi came up with a pair of strikeouts to get out of the inning unscathed.  Then-junior catcher Clair Strom (El Paso, Texas) led off the top of the sixth with a double and scored on an error to even the score at 2-2, but the Ducks could not get the run they needed in the seventh and Ramapo would score the game-winner on a two-out bases-loaded single.  Orlando finished the day 3-4 with a run and three RBI while Lima went 1-2 with two hit-by-pitches, a run and two stolen bases.
 
Head Coach Erica Mehalick and the Ducks will look to come out on top this time as the teams take the field at 3 p.m. at the Weehawken Waterfront on Wednesday, March 26.