Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (April 7, 2013) – The Stevens Institute of Technology softball team dropped an Empire 8 Conference doubleheader at Nazareth College on Sunday afternoon.

Stevens is now 2-20 overall and 0-6 in the conference while Nazareth improves to 5-11 (2-2).

Despite the losses, the Ducks had one of their best days at the plate, smashing eight extra-base hits over the doubleheader, including a season-high five doubles in Game One, after recording just 14 in the first 20 games of the spring.
 

Nazareth 13, Stevens 4

Junior shortstop Danielle DeFeo (Andover, N.J.) reached base on an error to lead off Game One and immediately advanced to second on a groundout by freshman left fielder Gavriella Risman-Jones (New Boston, N.H.), but was stranded.  Senior Molly Herforth (Pompton Plains, N.J.) quickly retired the side, striking out two, to bring the Ducks back up to bat.

Junior third baseman Stephanie Senkevich (Washington, N.J.) led off the top of the second inning with a double deep down the left field line and came home in the next at-bat as sophomore first baseman Noelle Mulligan (Staten Island, N.Y.) smashed a double off the fence in left-center to put the Ducks up, 1-0.

Nazareth responded in the bottom of the second, however, as a leadoff double, single and walk loaded the bases for junior third baseman Liz Toner (Geneva, N.Y.) who smashed a grand slam to left-center, giving the Golden Flyers a 4-1 lead.   Herforth struck out the next batter, but a shallow single down the left field line and two fielder's choice bunts again loaded the bases and Nazareth score again on a wild pitch. One out later, another shallow single down the left field line brought two more home to make it 7-1.

DeFeo reached base on a single to lead off the third inning and again Risman-Jones moved her up to second, nearly beating out the throw on the sacrifice bunt.  DeFeo advanced to third on a groundout, but once again was left on base.

A leadoff triple put yet another Golden Flyer in scoring position, but a heads-up play by DeFeo on a groundball got the runner at home.  A sliding catch by freshman right fielder Kelsey Dempsey (Broomfield, Colo.) in right robbed another hit and Herforth coaxed another groundout to end the inning.

Once again, Nazareth loaded the bases to start the bottom of the fourth inning and scored two on a double down the left field line, with a nice relay from Risman-Jones to DeFeo getting the third runner at home.

Down eight runs heading into the top of the fifth, the Ducks began to put together a serious rally.  DeFeo set the scene, reaching first base on a single with Risman-Jones moving her over to second for the third time.  Dempsey then smashed a double off the left field wall to put runners on second and third with just one out, and senior catcher Clair Strom (El Paso, Texas) brought DeFeo home with another double off the wall in left-center to cut the deficit to seven.  Senkevich followed with a two-RBI single up the middle to score two more, making it 9-4.  Mulligan strung together a fourth straight hit with a deep single into the gap in right-center, moving Senkevich over to third, and although a shallow fly out and strikeout cut the rally short, the Ducks were able to keep the game going.

Nazareth would go on to score four more runs in the bottom of the fifth, however, to end the game with the 13-4 victory.

Senkevich continued her torrid hitting over the past week, going 2-3 with a double, run and two RBI while Mulligan was 2-3 with a double and one RBI and Strom went 1-2 with a double, hit-by-pitch, run and one RBI.

Junior shortstop Sarah Clipperly (Troy, N.Y.) was a perfect 4-4 with a double, three runs and two RBI for the Golden Flyers, as was Toner, who went 3-3 with a walk, run and seven RBI, just missing hitting for the cycle by a single.  Junior catcher Shauna Bardanis (Rochester, N.Y.) was also 1-2 with a double and two walks, runs and RBI.

Freshman Carly Pike (Perry, N.Y.) was solid at both the plate (2-3 with a walk, run and one RBI) and in the circle (four earned runs on nine hits and one hit-by-pitch while striking out three over five innings).
 

Nazareth 5, Stevens 4

DeFeo and Risman-Jones reached on an error and single, respectively, to lead off Game Two, but DeFeo was thrown out at third in the next at-bat to keep runners on first and second with one out.  Strom also reached on an error to load the bases for Senkevich, who singled into the left-center gap to score Risman-Jones and Dempsey, giving Stevens the 2-0 lead.

Nazareth quickly tied the game up in the bottom of the first on a leadoff double and two-run homer.  Both pitchers retired the side in the next inning, and the Ducks got another double off the wall from Dempsey in the top of the third, but a double play erased any chance of regaining the lead.  Sophomore Brianna Sandone (Haddon Township, N.Y.) gave up back-to-back singles to load the base with two outs after an earlier error, but came up with a big strikeout to end the inning.

Another quick inning followed, with each team getting only one runner on base and none past second until the Ducks came up in the top of the fifth.  DeFeo sent the first pitch up the middle for a single, then scored the go-ahead run as Risman-Jones, who had been robbed of at least a double in her last at-bat, tripled off the wall in right-center.  Dempsey then slapped a grounder past the pitcher and Risman-Jones slid under the tag at home to score, putting the Ducks up 4-2.

Sandone got into some trouble in the bottom of the fifth inning as Nazareth smacked two singles to left field and scored on another after a wild pitch moved the runner to third base.  A double off the wall scored two more to put the Golden Flyers up by one, but the Ducks did catch the runner trying to stretch the hit into a triple and got out of the inning two batters later with no more damage done.

Still down one in the top of the seventh, the Ducks got a walk from DeFeo with one out but two batters later she was struck by the ball and the game ended on the runner's interference.

Risman-Jones and Dempsey each recorded two hits and one RBI, with Risman-Jones scoring twice and Dempsey once.  Sandone took the loss in the circle, allowing five earned runs while striking out a season-high four batters. 

Three Golden Flyers recorded two hits, led by freshman left fielder Morgan Ross (West Monroe, N.Y.), who was 2-4 with the home run, two runs and two RBI.  Clipperly went 2-3 with a run and one RBI while Pike was 2-3 with a double and two RBI.  Freshman Danae Wetherbee (Geneva, N.Y.) surrendered two earned runs on seven hits and two walks while whiffing three.

DeFeo brought her average over the .300 mark with her 3-6 day at the plate.  Dempsey extended her hitting streak to a team season high seven games and tied the team season-high on-base streak at seven as well.
 
Head Coach Erica Mehalick and the Ducks will return to Hoboken for their final home stand of the season, starting with Fairleigh Dickinson-College at Florham (10-9) in a makeup doubleheader on Tuesday, April 9 at 3 p.m.