Clermont, Fla.- A day of tight finishes ended with redemption for Marywood University. The Pacers softball team dropped a 7-6 heartbreaker to Curry College in extras before storming back to defeat Regis College 9-8 in nine innings.
Game One: Curry 7, Marywood 6 (9 inn.)
Marywood jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first inning.
Kat Davis singled to start the frame and eventually scored when
Amber Little reached on a Curry error. Later in the inning,
Renee McDonald added an RBI single to score
Tori Para.
Curry began chipping away in the third inning. Olivia Roy scored on an RBI single from Karlie Pontes to cut the deficit to one. The Colonels tied the game in the fifth when Pontes delivered another RBI single to bring home Kailey Collins-Fiore.
After a scoreless sixth and seventh inning, the contest would eventually go into extras.
Curry broke through in the eighth with an RBI single by Skylar Colburn followed by a two-run single from Roy to give the Colonels a 5–2 lead.
Marywood answered in the bottom half of the inning.
Lauryn Notari lined a two-run double down the left field line to score
Marley Sarafinko and
Jessie Kmak, bringing the Pacers within one.
Kat Davis then lifted a sacrifice fly that scored Notari and tied the game.
Curry regained control in the ninth inning as Cailene Dupras drove in Morgan Barmash with a sacrifice fly before another run scored on an error.
Marywood mounted one last rally in the bottom of the ninth.
Riley Marshall scored on an RBI double by
Marissa Hoffman, but the Pacers were unable to push the tying run across.
Notari paced Marywood at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Hoffman and McDonald each recorded two hits, and Para also added a pair of base knocks as the Pacers totaled 14 hits in the extra-inning defeat.
Megan Linkhorst got the start and pitched three innings, allowing five hits and one earned run while striking out one.
Amber Little followed with 4.2 innings in relief, giving up four earned runs on five hits with four walks and a strikeout.
Emily Dubisz was charged with the loss after pitching the final 1 1/3 innings of the game.
Marywood 9, Regis 8
Marywood came back from a six-run deficit to defeat Regis in the seventh inning.
Regis jumped on top in the first when Samantha Kelepouris belted a three‑run home run and later scored on a single to make it 4‑0.
Marywood's offense finally got going in the fourth as the Pacers scored two in the inning. Notrari added an RBI single and a Sarafinko sacrifice fly scored
Alex Dusman.
The Pride added four runs in the bottom half of the fourth off a throwing error that scored two and a Lynsey Kay two-run home run.
The Pacers continued their comeback in the fifth when Dusman delivered an RBI single to bring Marywood within striking distance at 8‑3 going into the sixth.
The sixth inning was a turning point. Para and
Mia Antolino each drew a walk with the bases loaded before Little recorded a three-run triple to tie the game.
Marywood took the lead in the seventh as
Hailie Muoio blooped a single to center to score Hoffman.
After the Pacers recorded the first out in the bottom of the seventh, Regis's tying run reached base with a single to left‑center. Marywood turned a clutch double play on a sacrifice bunt attempt. After retiring the batter, the lead runner was caught in a rundown, ending the game and securing the victory.
Para and Hoffman both had two hits on the day. Little posted a game-high three RBI.
On the pitching side, Dubisz earned the save as she logged 4.1 innings, allowing seven hits and five runs (four earned) with a walk and strikeout. Linkhorst got the win as she tossed 2.2 innings, yielding three hits and three unearned runs with two walks and a strikeout to close out the win.
Marywood (2-2) will enjoy an off day tomorrow. It returns to the diamond on Thursday to go up against University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg and Rhode Island College.
