WILMINGTON, Del. - - A 17-hit outburst in game two secured a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference doubleheader split for the Wilmington University softball team after Goldey-Beacom took game one, 1-0, in nine innings on Thursday at the Jackson Athletics Complex.
After dropping the first game, the Wildcats (12-14, 4-2 CACC) came back with 17 hits in the nightcap, earning the split with a 13-4 victory after five innings of play.
Senior Stephanie Sarris tossed all 8.1 innings in the opener, striking out nine batters while allowing one run and seven hits. The only run the Lightning (3-17, 2-11 CACC) was able to scratch across came on the international tiebreaker rule with a runner placed on second to start the ninth inning.
The bats were silenced by Lightning's starting pitcher Courtney Dolson in the opener, as the Wildcats were only able to muster three hits against the senior. Dolson struck out four batters while walking one.
Jen Fischbach collectd two of the Wildcats' hits off Dolson while Shannon McMahon added the third. The Wildcats left five runners stranded on base in the opener, including the go-ahead run on third base with no outs in the top of the ninth inning.
The bats came alive in the nightcap, as the visitors jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Ashley Bennett got the scoring started with an RBI single, followed by a two-run double by Fischbach.
Meghan Logullo bunted a ball passed the infield for the Wildcats' first run of the second inning, allowing Kelsey Doherty to come around from second. Bennett chased Logullo all the way around from first for an two-run double before Fischbach continued her successful afternoon at the plate with another RBI single and the 7-2 lead.
Continuing to score in every inning, Doherty hit an RBI triple before Bennett singled to left center to make it 9-3 after three complete innings.
Cambria Ziemba singled back up the middle in the top of the fourth to score Fischbach who led off the inning with another base hit. That moved the score to 10-3 in the fourth before the Wildcats put the game away in the fifth inning.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Katrina Swank doubled over the head of the left fielder, clearing the bases for three RBI and putting the 8-run rule into effect.
Junior Chelsea Botsch closed out the bottom of the fifth to give the Wildcats the split. Botsch came on in relief of Fischbach in the circle in the first inning, tossing the final 4.2 innings to pick up the victory. Botsch allowing two runs on six hits to improve to 2-5 on the season.
Fischbach led the offense by going 5-for-6 on the day, knocking in three runners while scoring two more. Bennett went 3-for-4 with four RBI and two runs scored in the nightcap while Swank went 2-for-4 with three RBI.
The Wildcats are in the middle of a 12-game road swing, as they head to Nyack on Saturday for another CACC doubleheader. The first game of the twinbill is scheduled for 3 p.m.
