UTICA, N.Y. (April 22, 2017)  – Junior Corinne Loncar homered and drove in two runs and senior Amanda DiLeo drove in three as the Stevens Institute of Technology softball team swept Utica College (7-1, 7-4) Saturday afternoon.

Junior Cara Napolitano and senior Emily Sellitti each drove in two runs for the Ducks, who improved to 22-14 on the season and 7-5 in Empire 8 Conference play.

Nicole Rice and Sabrina Stransky collected two hits for the Pioneers, who fell to 12-16 on the year and 3-7 in league play.

Stevens 7 Utica 1 (8 innings)
In game one, Corinne Loncar led off the seventh inning with a long home run to force extra innings, and then keyed a six-run rally with an RBI single as the Ducks rallied for a 7-1 victory.

Rice's first-inning double off Christine LaRochelle (10-4) accounted for the only run for the Pioneers. LaRochelle finished the day allowing just the one run on six hits with five strikeouts. 

Brittany Meka (8-5) kept the Stevens offense at bay in the early going, allowing just three hits over the first six innings, before Loncar's solo blast. She ran into trouble again in the eighth. Samantha Schattin singled to lead off the inning and moved to third on Farryl Groder's sacrifice. After Emily Sellitti was hit by a pitch, Utica brought Sabrina Stransky in to pitch. 

Loncar greeted the reliever with a single to left to put Stevens in front. Olivia Gemma reached on an infield single to load the bases. Cara Napolitano singled to center to score Loncar and Sellitti. Amanda DiLeo singled in Gemma for the fourth run of the inning. The catcher was the sixth batter to reach in the inning. Napolitano scored on a passed ball to keep the rally alive and DiLeo scored when shortstop Josie Sgarlata misplayed Julia DeCandia's grounder.

Given a large lead to work with, LaRochelle worked around a one-out single to earn the victory.

Stevens 7 Utica 4
In game two, sophomore Marissa Cappello and Alyssa Samborin battled in a pitcher's duel over the first three innings, before the Stevens offense erupted for seven runs in a 7-4 victory.

Off her best start of the year, Cappello (6-7) kept the Utica offense off the board, scattering three hits over the first four innings. She extended her scoreless streak to 11 innings before Utica scored four times in the fifth.

The Ducks finally broke through against Samborin (1-2) in the fourth. Corinne Loncar led off with a single. Victoria Kapp pinch-ran for Loncar and moved to second when the Utica pitcher walked Olivia Gemma. Cara Napolitano advanced both runners with a groundout to second and Kapp scored the game's first run on a passed ball. Amanda DiLeo singled to right to give the Ducks a 2-0 lead.

After Cappello kept the Pioneers off the board in the fourth, Stevens struck for five runs off three Utica pitchers in the fifth. Samantha Schattin led off the inning with a single and moved to third on an error by Hayley Fredericks. Farryl Groder walked and Emily Sellitti doubled to drive in both runners. Shannon Cool relieved Samborin and induced a groundout by Loncar. Gemma singled to left to score a run and moved to second on another Utica error. Cara Napolitano walked and Amanda DiLeo singled to score Gemma and give Stevens a six-run lead. Sophomore Julia DeCandia plated the fifth run of the frame on an infield single. Cool hit Schnecker to load the bases and prompted another pitching change. Brittany Meka came on retired Schattin and Groder to strand the runners.

After allowing four runs in the fifth, Cappello kept Utica off the board in the sixth. She struck out seven in winning her second straight game. Christine LaRochelle pitched a scoreless seventh for her third save.

Up Next: The Ducks close out Empire 8 Conference play with a doubleheader with Elmira.

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