Now 6-4, the Ducks are off to their best start in school history through 10 games.

Wisconsin-Superior 4, Stevens 2

Pitchers had the upper-hand early, as senior Kayla Berardi struck-out seven of the first 10 batters she faced, including striking-out the side in the third. Senior Nicolle Gross matched her though, retiring every batter she faced through the first two innings.

The Ducks put together a rally in the third when seniors Stephanie Senkevich and Danielle DeFeo singled, but Gross forced a groundball out off the bat of sophomore Gavriella Risman-Jones to preserve the shut-out.

After Berardi retired the side in the third, Wisconsin-Superior finally broke through in the fourth. Britnee Blake led-off the inning with a single, followed by Kristen Haider reaching second on a couple of errors. With two runners in scoring position, Elle Niemela singled to score both, before Sasha Fjeran added to the lead with an RBI groundout to short. The Yellow Jackets added one more in the inning to build a 4-0 lead.

Stevens went down quietly in the fifth before rallying in the sixth. DeFeo reached first on an error to lead-off followed by an infield single from Risman-Jones. A throwing error put runners on second and third where Gross retired the next two, but fell victim to freshman Jessica Rees' hard-hit two-out single to right to score both runners and cut the deficit to 4-2.

Berardi navigated through the sixth without any trouble, but the Ducks went down in order in the seventh to lose the game. Berardi pitched well again striking out nine, and Rees finished with two RBIs to tie her career high. 

Stevens 5, Rockford 0

The Ducks struck first in the second inning when freshman Kelly Klewicki and Rees singled with no outs, and got into scoring position off a wild pitch. Senior Noelle Mulligan then hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Klewicki and giving Stevens a lead it wouldn't relinquish.

Junior Jamie DeGennaro took over the offense from there, crushing a double to center in the third to score Risman-Jones and DeFeo. Then in the seventh, after Risman-Jones led-off with a single, DeGennaro ripped a triple and then scored on a wild pitch to cap the Ducks scoring for the game at five.

The runs were more than enough for junior Brianna Sandone who continued her prowess of stranding opposing runners. Rockford put runners in scoring position in the third and fifth, but Sandone escaped the jams without surrendering any runs. Rockford mounted their best rally in the seventh after Jessica Bjerming and Lynn Blakeley-Snyder reached first and second, but Sandone induced a groundball back to herself that ended the game.

Sandone picked up her team-leading fourth win of the year, while DeGennaro supplied most of the offense with three RBIs off two extra-base hits. Risman-Jones set the table at the top of the lineup, scoring twice with two hits.

Up Next

It's back to the cold for the Ducks as they'll host their home-opener against New Jersey City University on March 22 at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. in Weehawken, N.J. All Stevens' softball action can be followed on stevensducks.com and on Twitter @stevensducks.

Facebook: "Like" Stevens Athletics
Twitter: @stevensducks
Instagram: @stevensducks