WEEHAWKEN, N.J. – Emma Quattrochi had a five-RBI day and Jessica Hsu yielded just four base-runners in a two-hit shutout for the Stevens Institute of Technology softball team in a Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom sweep of DeSales Sunday afternoon from Weehawken Waterfront Park.
 
Quattrochi went 4-for-4 with four of those five RBIs in an 8-7 Game 1 win, then Hsu silenced the Bulldogs' bats in Game 2, yielding just two singles and two walks in a 4-0 victory for Stevens (16-16, 7-3 MACF).
 
HOW IT HAPPENED – GAME 1
After Stevens starting pitcher Kyra Fischer stranded two runners in scoring position in the top of the first, a Megan Curtis double and Quattrochi RBI single put the Ducks up 1-0. After a scoreless second from Fischer, Elizabeth Kirstein reached on a bunt single, moved to second on a Riley Lawrence sacrifice bunt, and came around to score on an Allison Mitloff single, staking Fischer a two-run lead heading to the third.
 
Fischer conceded a leadoff homer in the fourth, but the Ducks tacked on several insurance runs in the bottom of the inning, all with two outs. With Kirstein on second, Jessica Guerrero doubled her home, then after Curtis walked, Quattrochi made it 7-1, coming all the way around to score when her cue shot down the right field line kicked under the glove of the DeSales right fielder and rolled all the way to the fence.
 
DeSales got two runs back in the fifth, then came all the way back to tie the following inning, the big blow coming on a three-run, two-out home run.
 
After Mitloff reached on an error leading off the sixth, stole second, then moved to third on a ground out, Quattrochi provided some opposite field magic again, tripling down the right field line, plating Mitloff with the go-ahead run. Fischer set the Bulldogs down 1-2-3 in the seventh to close out the win.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED – GAME 2
Guerrero and Curtis were both hit by pitches leading off for the Ducks. With one out, Hsu singled up the middle, scoring Guerrero, taking second on the throw while Curtis took third. Rachael Prescott followed with a sacrifice bunt, plating Curtis.
 
That 2-0 score held until the bottom of the fifth, with no runner for either side advancing past second base, when Carmelita Murphy-Brown and Mitloff led off with back-to-back singles. After Curtis reached on a dropped fly ball to load the bases. Quattrochi's big day continued with a sacrifice fly, scoring Murphy-Brown.
 
Stevens tacked on more insurance in the sixth. Prescott led off with a double, pinch-runner Lilian Cournoyer advanced to third on an Emma Ruiz sac bunt, and Kirstein singled her home.
 
Hsu set the Bulldogs in order in the seventh, capping her dominant outing (and the sweep for the Ducks) with a strikeout.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The Ducks swept a doubleheader from DeSales for the first time since the 2021 season, and the first time at home in program history.
• Quattrochi's four-hit Game 1 effort was the first such performance of her career, and just the fifth four-hit game for a Duck this season.
• Hsu has lowered her ERA in each of her last six outings, during which time she's allowed just four earned runs 40.1 innings, a 0.89 ERA.
• Mitloff went 2-for-3 in each game, raising her batting average to a team-best .446. Her average has not dropped below .400 in her last 24 games.

UP NEXT
The Ducks will square off with John Jay on Wednesday, April 16, from the campus of Kean University in Union, N.J. First pitch for Game 1 is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
 
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