Mercy Softball Picks up first ECC win in Split with St. Thomas Aquinas
Mercy Softball Picks up first ECC win in Split with St. Thomas Aquinas
In a pair of East Coast Conference games played on Saturday afternoon, The Mercy Mavericks split a doubleheader with the Spartans of St. Thomas Aquinas College. STAC took the first game 4-1 and the Mavericks won game two by a 6-2 score.
In game one, freshman Alex Oakes (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Lakeland) got the start and pitched into the seventh inning. For the first six innings, she conceded just a lone run, which came in the top of the second on an Alyssa Cataldo double. The Spartans pushed three more runs across in the seventh before gave way to junior hurler Cait Rohme (Patchogue, NY/Suffolk C.C.) who retired the final batter in the frame. For the game, Oakes struck out nine batters.
The lone Mavericks run came in the bottom of the fourth when Paige Cauley (Stratford, NJ/Iona College) led off with a walk. Cleanup hitter Chelsea Methot (Bristol, CT/Bristol Central) drove a double into the left-field corner putting runners on second and third. Freshman Ashley Johnstone (Bellmore, NY/John F. Kennedy) drove in Cauley with a groundout to the right side.
Game two saw Mavericks’ starting pitcher Shanna Hicks (Marlboro, NY/SUNY New Paltz) get off to an inauspicious start as the Spartans jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first. Hicks settled down after the inning and went the distance.
With the Spartans holding a 2-0 advantage, the Mavericks finally
broke through with a huge sixth inning. Methot led off the
frame by hitting a homerun to the opposite field. She was
followed in the order by Krissy Lacik
(Edison, NJ/Edison) who ripped a double of her own. After a
pitching change, the onslaught continued as Johnstone doubled to
left-center, scoring Lacik. The next batter, Steph Owsiany
(Edison, NJ/Edison) singled in Johnstone from second. 
Later in the inning, Cauley capped the scoring with a two-RBI double that scored Kim Curry (Bristol, CT/Bristol Central) and Jackie Roebuck (Walden, NY/Chapel Field Christian). For the inning, Mercy sent 10 batters to the plate and scored six runs on seven hits. Hicks retired the Spartans in the seventh to earn the victory.
With the split, the Mavericks’ record is now 7-11, 1-5 ECC. STAC is 2-17, 1-5 ECC. The Mavericks return to action on Monday, April 5, as they host Molloy College in a doubleheader that will be home games for Molloy. The first pitch is slated for 3:00 pm.
