Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

HOBOKEN, N.J. (April 13, 2014) –  The Stevens Institute of Technology softball team split a doubleheader with Utica College on Sunday, taking game one 6-1 before falling in game two 5-4 in nine innings.
 
The win in game one was the twenty-second of the year Stevens (22-5) which is the most in school history. Utica moved to 13-6 with the split.
 
Stevens 6, Utica 1
 
Stevens struck early when junior Jamie DeGennaro singled-home senior Danielle DeFeo in the first, who had led off the inning with a single. Senior Kayla Berardi made the lead hold-up with a scoreless second before inducing a ground-ball in the third with the bases loaded to get out of a jam.
 
The Ducks capitalized on the momentum, scoring three more in the third. Berardi bunted junior Noelle Mulligan to second for the first out of the inning, where DeFeo singled her home and advanced to second on an error. Sophomore Gavriella Risman-Jones followed-up with a bunt single before DeGennaro reached on a throwing error by the pitcher that allowed both runners to score.
 
Berardi made the rally stick with a one-two-three inning in the fourth allowing Stevens to add to the lead in the fifth. Freshman Kelly Klewicki singled to lead-off, stole second and third, then scored on a wild pitch to extend the Sevens lead to 5-0.
 
Utica finally broke-through in the fifth when sophomore Alyssa Russell singled-home sophomore Abby Monroe, but Stevens got the run back in the bottom of the inning off a DeGennaro double that scored DeFeo.
 
Berardi worked around a lead-off single in the sixth before retiring the side in order in the seventh to seal the win. Berardi finished the game with six strikeouts to earn her twelfth win of the season.
 
Offensively, DeGennaro led all hitters with four RBIs while DeFeo added three hits and scroed three runs.
 
Utica 5, Stevens 4
 
The Ducks jumped-out to an early lead in the first, when after DeGennaro and freshman Jessica Rees walked with two outs, freshman Emily Sellitti singled to left to score one. Utica tried to answer in the second after back-to-back singles to lead-off, but junior pitcher Brianna Sandone retired the next three batters to end the threat.
 
Utica finally broke through with a run in fourth when freshman Kassidy Ogren reached on a fielder's choice to score senior Meghan Matan, but Sandone retired the next two batters with a runner at third to escape further damage.
 
Sandone then retired the side in order in the fifth, allowing Stevens to add to their lead in the bottom of the inning. Risman-Jones led-off with a single, stole second and third, then scored on Sellitti's infield single to extend the lead to 4-1.
 
Utica mounted a rally in the sixth after sophomore Cassie Smith doubled to put runners at second and third with one out, but Sandone worked out of the jam once again, inducing a fly-out followed by a ground-out at second to end the inning.
 
After Stevens went down in order in the sixth, the Pioneers once again rallied in the seventh. With one out, three straight batters doubled to shrink the deficit to 4-3. Senior Meghan Matan followed with an infield single before sophomore Cassie Smith singled off sophomore Sydney Spitz's glove to tie the game.
 
Both teams traded zeroes in the eighth before Matan broke the tie with an RBI double in the ninth. Stevens went down in order in their half of the inning, giving Utica the 5-4 win.
 
Sellitti led the Ducks offensively with three hits and two RBIs, while DeGennaro also added a hit and an RBI.
 
Coming Up
 
Stevens will host Richard Stockton College on April 17 at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., before hitting the road for a big Empire 8 showdown with Ithaca College on April 19. Follow the team all season long on stevensducks.com and on Twitter @stevensducks.
 
 
 
 
 
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