TUCSON, Ariz. (March 14, 2017)  – Junior Lauren Shirley and freshman Melissa Alfonso each homed and sophomore Christine LaRochelle and junior Olivia Gemma combined to allow only one earned run over 14 innings, as the Stevens Institute of Technology softball team fell to the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse and defeated MacMurray College to earn a split on the third day of play at the Tucson Invitational Games.

University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse 1 Stevens 0
In the day's opener, Shirley went 2-for-3, but the Ducks fell to the Eagles, 1-0, when pinch-runner Brooke Baldwin scored on a wild pitch in the seventh inning.

Caitlyn Hughes (4-0) scattered three hits in shutting down the Stevens offense. LaRochelle (2-2) matched her batter until running into trouble in the seventh.

Sydney Murphy walked to lead off the frame. Baldwin pinch ran for the UWL third baseman and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Stephanie Cole singled to move the winning run to third. After LaRochelle induced a pop-up from Dani Mestelle, LaRochelle fired a ball outside the reach of catcher Amanda DiLeo, scoring Baldwin. The Stevens left-hander retired Kathryn VanderSchaaf to end the frame.

The Ducks had scoring opportunities in the fourth and sixth innings, but Katherine Tirabassi popped up with the bases loaded and Marissa Barnes grounded out with runners at the corners to end the respective threats.

LaRochelle allowed just four hits and struck out six in her first complete game of the season. 

Stevens 7 MacMurray College 0 
In the nightcap, Shirley's three-run homer was more than enough as Stevens jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two innings and defeated MacMurray College, 7-0.

Olivia Gemma (3-0) spun her first shutout of the season, allowing four hits over seven innings. The right-hander did not walk a batter and struck out five.

The Ducks jumped on Haley Stewart (0-2) in the opening inning. Junior Farryl Groder smacked a one-out single. Corinne Loncar followed with a single to move Groder into scoring position. Shirley followed and blasted a long home run to give Stevens a 3-0 advantage. Shirley tied for the team lead in home runs (7) in 2016.

Up 3-0, the Ducks tacked on two more runs in the second. Barnes worked a one-out walk and moved to second on a Gina Schnecker groundout. Back-to-back MacMurray errors led to Barnes crossing the plate. Loncar added an RBI single on the next play to score Victoria Kapp, who reached on the first Highlander error.

The early five-run cushion was more than enough for Gemma, who retired the last eight MacMurray batters she faced. The Stevens right-hander allowed only one Highlander to reach third base and MacMurray only had two at-bats with runners in scoring position on the afternoon.

Alfonso's first collegiate homer account for the final two runs.

Up Next: The Ducks have games with the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and Suffolk University on tap on the fourth day of play at the Tucson Invitational Games. Live stats links for both games are available at StevensDucks.com.

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