WEEHAWKEN, N.J. (April 7, 2018) – The Stevens Institute of Technology softball team won its fourth- and fifth-straight games on Saturday with a sweep of Empire 8 rival Utica College on Saturday. The scores were 1-0 in game one and 7-1 in the nightcap.
 
Game One was an incredible pitching duel; perhaps the most pivotal players were a strikeout and a thwarted steal.
 
With the game scoreless in the fifth, Stevens starter Christine LaRochelle faced two runners in scoring position with just one out after surrendering back-to-back hits to begin the frame. First, she induced a popup go earn the second out, and then struck out her first batter of the game to preserve her shutout through five.
 
After the Ducks scratched across a run in the home half of the sixth, the Pioneers put their leadoff runner on in the top of the seventh. Utica's pinch runner was caught stealing - catcher Melissa Alfonso to the shortstop Corinne Loncar - to snuff the threat and help LaRochelle nail down her second-straight shutout.
 
Offensively, Stevens managed just three hits. The ball never left the infield during the game-winning rally; Loncar and Lauren Shirley had infield singles and Madison Gemma walked to load the bases. Olivia Gemma rapped into a double play with nobody out, allowing pinch runner Victoria Kapp to score the game's only run.
 
LaRochelle earned her third win of the season and second-straight shutout. She has not allowed a run in the last 14 innings, and the Ducks took a 21-inning scoreless streak into game two.
 
Gabby Caccamo was the tough-luck loser for the Pioneers.
 
Game Two
 
As tough as runs were to find in the first game, the Ducks had no trouble scoring early in the second game. 1-2 hitters Samantha Schattin and Farryl Groder reached base, and Loncar lifted her first homer of the season over the leftfield fence for a three-run dinger before Utica had recorded an out.
 
Stevens starter Marissa Cappello carried the Stevens scoreless streak into the fourth, where it finally ended on an RBI single to right field by Sara Stransky, tightening the score at 3-1.
 
The Duck offense was dormant until the fifth. Gina DeOliveira and Schattin started the inning with singles, and Loncar and Siobhan Cottell drove them in to make the lead 5-1.
 
Stevens tacked on two more in the sixth after singles from DeOliveira, Schattin and Groder, plus a sac fly from Loncar.
 

• Schattin was 3-4 with three runs scored in game two
• Loncar drove in five runs
• DeOliveira was 2-3 with two runs
• There was an incredible sub-plot throughout the day, as Madison Gemma saw six-straight four-pitch walks - a total of 24-straight balls - after smacking a double in what turned into her only at-bat of the day during game one.
• Cappello finished with seven K's in her seven-inning complete game effort as she moved to 3-1 on the season

Up Next
 
The Ducks will return tomorrow to host The Sage Colleges in a 1p.m. Empire 8 doubleheader. Sunday's contests were originally scheduled to be played at Sage, but moved to Weehawken because the Gators' field is unplayable.
 
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