HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 13, 2021) – Tied at nine in the bottom of the eighth inning, graduate student Victoria Kapp stepped to the plate ripped an RBI single into center field to bring home Alex Schoellig and help the Stevens Institute of Technology softball team complete the doubleheader sweep of King's College (Pa.) in the 2021 season opening series, winning game one 9-4 before taking game two 10-9.

The Ducks opened the year with a convincing 9-4 victory, plating six runs in their first at-bat of the season, and followed it up by coming from behind three separate times to earn the 10-9 extra-inning win in the second contest.

"Today was a big step forward for the team," head coach Emily Kaczmarek said. "It was a great overall atmosphere and good team chemistry. Two wins under our belts feels great, but we still have a ton left to build on. We're looking forward to the opportunity to grow again tomorrow."

While Kapp had the big hit to win it, a number of different student-athletes contributed to both victories as six different Ducks had multi-hit days.

One of those players was first-year Jessica Guerrero who made a loud statement in her collegiate debut. In the doubleheader, Guerrero went 4 for 7 with five RBIs, four runs scored, a double and a home run while also drawing a pair of walks.

In the circle, both Jessie Masur and Erin Kreis picked up victories.

Masur started game one and tossed 7.0 innings while giving up just one earned run and scattering eight hits. The senior set a new career-high with 12 punchouts and has not given up more than one earned run in a game since April 18, 2019 against Stockton University.

Kreis, meanwhile, gritted through a tough start striking out nine batters and giving up eight earned runs on 13 hits. After giving up six runs through two, Kreis settled in and allowed just three runs on just four hits in innings three-eight.

In game number one, the Ducks, who had not seen game action in 368 days, looked like they missed pounding the ball all over the field from the start.

Stevens loaded the bases in the bottom of the first thanks to a single from Gina DeOliveira and a pair of walks by Alex Schoellig and Abigail Circelli. The set the table for Guerrero to deliver in her first plate appearance as a collegiate as the first-year ripped a two-RBI double into the left center field gap.

Kapp then brought Circelli home and subsequently stole second base. After a walk to Siobhan Cottell loaded the bases once again, Madison Gemma produced the second two-RBI hit of the inning with a single up the middle to plate Guerrero and Kapp.

An Amanda Delorme RBI-groundout made the score 6-0 in favor of the Ducks, giving Masur all the cushion she would need the rest of the game.

After King's responded with two runs in the top of the second, Stevens answered right back thanks to a pair of Monarch errors along with an RBI single from Guerrero to make it 8-2.

The score remained the same until the bottom of the fifth when Samantha Schattin laid a bunt down with a runner on third and one out and was thrown out on the play. King's, thinking it was the third out of the inning, began jogging off the field and Cottell had the wherewithal to notice the mistake and took home on the play to extend the lead to seven.

The Monarchs threatened to get back into the game in the seventh as an error and a single put runners on first and second with one away. Lindsey Leppo then stepped into the box and delivered an RBI single into right to cut the deficit to six, but a good throw by Guerrero prevented her from stretching the single into a double and made it two down.

An RBI single made it 9-4, but Masur did not blink as she got April Bonwit to ground into a fielder's choice to DeOliveira at third to seal the win.

Guerrero led the way offensively for the Ducks in game one with two hits and three RBIs while DeOliveira, Schoellig, Kapp and Gemma all had one hit apiece.

As entertaining as the first contest was, the second was even more so.

King's started the scoring in game number two with an RBI single from Bailey Loyac and a two-RBI single by Gabriella Medina making the score 3-0 before the Ducks found their way into the batter's box.

Stevens was able to answer with a run of their own in the bottom half, however, as Schattin led things off with a bunt single, was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by DeOliveira and scored on an RBI single down the left field line by Schoellig.

The Monarchs, determined to steal at least one game in the doubleheader, put their second consecutive crooked number on the board in the second thanks to back-to-back-to-back RBI singles to make the score 6-1.

Cottell helped the Ducks respond once again as she became the first Stevens student-athlete to hit a ball out of the ballpark in 2021 with a homer over the right-center field fence to cut the deficit to four.

After Kreis settled in and delivered back-to-back 1-2-3 innings in the circle, Circelli followed Cottell's lead and lined a shot into left that actually hit off of the King's left fielder and bounced over the wall for the second homer of her career.

Later in the fourth, Guerrero walked an first-year Madison Kidd pinch hit and got her first collegiate knock on a bunt single to put runners on the corners with no outs. Cottell registered her second RBI of the game one batter later with an RBI fielders choice to make the score 6-4 in favor of King's.

In the bottom half of the fifth, it looked like Stevens could waste a valuable opportunity as Schattin led off the inning with a ground-rule double and DeOliveira walked to put two runners on with no outs. Back-to-back Ducks struck out, however, to make it two down with two on. Guerrero was not going to led the opportunity slip away, though, as she deposited a 1-1 pitch over the left field fence to give Stevens its first lead of the game at 8-7.

The Monarchs did not trail for long, scoring two more runs in the top half of the sixth to take back the advantage at 9-8.

With their backs against the wall in the bottom of the seventh, Guerrero and Cottell continued to produce as they both singled to put runners on first and second with two away. It was Gemma this time who came through with the big hit, doubling to left center field to bring home Guerrero and tie the game.

In the top half of the eighth, doubles from Leppo and Mindina Lieback gave King's the lead once again at 10-9, but Kreis limited the damage as she got back-to-back flyouts to end the threat.

With the top of the lineup due in the bottom half, Schattin walked and DeOliveira bunted her over to second with two strikes for the second time on the day to put a runner in scoring position. Schoellig, who was also playing in just her sixth collegiate contest, came through one batter later with a hard RBI single up the middle to bring home Schattin.

After a couple of walks to Olivia Warner and Guerrero loaded the bases, Kapp stepped to the plate and ripped a hard ground ball past the diving second baseman to bring home Schoellig and clinch the doubleheader sweep.

In game number two, Schattin, Schoellig, Guerrero, Kapp, Cottell and Gemma all had multi-hit games while Schoellig, Guerrero and Cottell had multiple RBIs.

In both contests, Stevens got on base any way they could as they drew 13 total walks in the doubleheader while King's just walked four times.

With the wins, the Ducks started the year 2-0 in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2016-17.

The two teams will be right back at it Sunday with a doubleheader in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. starting at 1:00 p.m. Live stats and video will be available on StevensDucks.com.

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