BOX SCORE (Game 1)
BOX SCORE (Game 2)
Wayne, NJ (April 22, 2010) – Junior Kristin Schultz (Laurys Station, PA/Parkland) had four hits including two home runs leading a four home run attack on Thursday afternoon as the DeSales University softball team came from behind in both ends of a non-conference doubleheader to earn two wins over William Paterson University by scores of, 9-8 (10 Innings) and 5-4.
The first game needed 10 innings before it was decided. DSU (17-15 overall) took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning when junior Jen Lococo (Easton, PA/Freedom) hit a two-run home run to leftfield but the Pioneers (21-12-1 overall) answered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning.
WPU then took a 5-2 lead in the third inning after the first three batters reached via walk and later scored on back-to-back singles. DeSales continued to trail by three runs entering the sixth inning before the Bulldogs exploded for four runs to take a 6-5 lead. Junior Kate Steiner (Walnutport, PA/Northampton) hit a two-run homer plating the first two runs and Schultz plated the other two runs with a two-run double to right-field scoring Lococo and sophomore Christine Petrilla (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert), who also doubled in the inning.
The Bulldogs got an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning when senior Kerri Andrews (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic) tripled and scored on a single from Lococo. That run proved to be big as WPU tied the game at seven in the bottom of the inning on a two-run homer.
In the eighth inning both teams scored an unearned run plating the runner placed on second via the International tiebreaking rule and in the ninth inning neither team was able to score a run as the Bulldogs stranded the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning. In the 10th, Lococo singled scoring Steiner from second base after started the inning on second thanks to the tiebreaker rule and in the bottom of the inning, Petrilla stranded runners on second and third with two outs as the Bulldogs escaped with the game one win.
Petrilla earned the win, her fourth of the season, pitching 7.2 terrific innings allowing just two earned runs and striking out two in relief of sophomore Katie Morrissey (Lanoka Harbor, NJ/Lacey Township) who tossed the first 2.1 innings allowing five earned runs. Andrews had three hits and scored three times, Steiner scored twice and had two RBIs, Lococo had three hits, scored twice, and knocked in four runs, Petrilla had two more hits and scored twice, and Schultz had two hits and two RBIs in game one.
In the second game, WPU took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, but the Bulldogs wasted no time tying the game in the top of the second inning when Schultz hit her first of two home runs in game two, a two-run shot to leftfield.
The Bulldogs added one more run in the fourth on back-to-back doubles from sophomore Shelly McCarthy (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic) and senior Kristen Cybularz (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Carroll) and took a 4-2 lead in the fifth when Schultz hit her second homer, a solo shot down the leftfield line.
WPU got within one run in the bottom of the sixth but the Bulldogs got that run back in the top of the seventh when Andrews doubled and Lococo doubled two batters later scoring Andrews to give DSU a 5-3 lead. Lococo allowed three straight hits to start the bottom of the seventh inning but stranded the tying run on third base with two outs to earn her sixth win of the season.
Lococo pitched all seven innings scattering 11 hits and allowing four earned runs while striking out eight. Schultz had two hits, two runs scored and three RBIs, while McCarthy and Cybularz also had two hits each in the game two win.
The Bulldogs return to action on Saturday when they host Manhattanville College in a Freedom Conference doubleheader pitting the two teams tied for first place in the standings with No. 1 seed in the Freedom Conference playoffs on the line beginning at Noon. LIVE Stats will be available for those unable to attend the doubleheader on Saturday vs. Manhattanville.
