ROCHESTER, N.Y. (April 1, 2017)  – Junior Corinne Loncar went 7-for-8 at the plate and drove in six runs and sophomore Christina LaRochelle fired five scoreless innings as the Stevens Institute of Technology softball team swept Nazareth College Saturday afternoon (10-7, 3-1) in an Empire 8 Conference doubleheader.

Senior Emily Sellitti homered, drove in two runs and scored three times for the Ducks, who improved to 14-6 on the season and opened 2-0 in Empire 8 play.

Freshman Kristen Simmons homered and drove in three runs for Nazareth, who fell to 7-5 and 0-2 in conference games.

Stevens 10 Nazareth 7
In the day's opener, the Ducks jumped out to a 7-0 lead after two innings and then held on for a hard-fought 10-7 win.

Corinne Loncar went 4-for-4 and drove in four runs and Emily Sellitti homered and drove in two for Stevens. 

Sellitti led off the game with a home run off Nazareth starter Nicole White (3-2). Junior Farryl Groder and Loncar connected for back-to-back doubles to give Stevens a 2-0 edge. Loncar later scored on a Sarah Papponetti error for the third run of the inning.

The Ducks extended their lead in the second. Julia DeCandia and Samantha Schattin singled to start the inning. After a wild pitch, Sellitti stroked a double to left to score DeCandia and Groder followed with an RBI single to open a 5-0 lead. Loncar doubled to center to drive in a pair and push the lead to 7-0.

Given a seven-run lead to work with, Olivia Gemma (5-0) kept the Nazareth offense at bay through the first four innings before running into trouble in the fifth. 

After back-to-back singles and an error loaded the bases, Marissa Tortora grounded into a fielder's choice to spoil the shutout. 

Stevens responded with two in the sixth on Amanda DiLeo's RBI single and a run-scoring groundout by Cara Napolitano.

Trailing 9-1, Nazareth exploded for six runs in the sixth to draw within 9-7. The Golden Flyers sent nine batters to the plate in the inning, with Kristen Simmons' three-run homer counting as the big blow in the inning.

The Ducks added an insurance run in the seventh on Loncar's fourth hit of the afternoon.

Christine LaRochelle loaded the bases in the seventh, but struck out Annika Guliano and Delaney St. George and induced a fly out from Simmons to end the game for her second save of the year.

Stevens 3 Nazareth 1
In game two, Corinne Loncar again starred with the bat, collecting three hits and a pair of RBI as the Ducks downed the Golden Flyers, 3-1, to complete the doubleheader sweep.

Christina LaRochelle (6-3) and Rachel Mertens were locked in a scoreless pitcher's duel over the first four innings. 

The Ducks finally broke through against Mertens (4-1) with a pair of runs in the fifth. Emily Sellitti and Samantha Schattin each reached on an error to start the inning. Farryl Groder singled to load the bases. Loncar dropped a double into center to score Sellitti and Schattin for the game's first two runs. 

The two-run cushion was all LaRochelle needed. The left-hander scattered three hits over four scoreless innings to record her sixth win of the year. The sophomore has already topped her 2016 win total.

Stevens added an insurance run in the seventh on Olivia Gemma's infield score.

Marissa Cappello worked around Delaney St. George's seventh-inning  home run to earn her third save. The right-hander has struck out three or more batters in seven of her nine 2017 appearances.

Up Next: The Ducks round out their Empire 8 Conference road trip with a doubleheaders at No. 5 St. John Fisher. 

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