ORANGEBURG, N.Y. - - Big innings led to a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference sweep for the Wilmington University softball team, as they took down Nyack, 10-5 and 15-5 (5 inn.), on Saturday afternoon at the Orangetown Little League Field.
The wins give the Wildcats (14-14, 6-2 CACC) six wins in their last seven games and brings their overall record to .500 for the first time since the first doubleheader on their annual trip to Clermont, Fla., when the team started the season 2-2. The losses were the third and fourth straight for the Warriors (2-18, 2-10 CACC), and eighth in their last nine games overall.
The bats were slow to come around in the first game, but then exploded in the final two innings, putting four runs on the board in both the sixth and seventh innings.
Michelle Panasiti put the Wildcats on the board with an RBI double in the fourth while Jen Fischbach added an RBI single in the fifth for the 2-0 lead.
The hot bats started in the sixth inning as Kelsey Doherty tallied a pair of RBI with a bases loaded single with no outs. Meghan Logullo followed suit with an RBI triple, scoring both Doherty and Shannon McMahon for the 6-0 lead.
After reliever Brooke Lachette set the Warriors down in order in the bottom of the sixth, the bats started again with two outs in the inning. After loading the bases with singles from Panasiti, Colby Wyatt, and Cambria Ziemba, McMahon reached on an error by the pitcher, bringing in the first run. Doherty cleared the bases for the Wildcats once again, hitting a three-run double to give the Wildcats a 10-0 lead.
Lachette relieved Stephanie Sarris for the third inning and tossed the final five frames, picking up four strikeouts to earn her first win of her collegiate career.
Doherty batted 2-for-4 with a game high five RBI, while Logullo led the team with three hits in the opener. Panasiti and Ziemba also collected two hits apiece in game one.
The bats didn't wait until the final two innings to make a dent in the scoreboard in the nightcap, as the Wildcats put a five spot on the board in the top of the second, followed by six more runs in the top of the third to take control of the contest.
Wyatt started the scoring outburst in the second inning with an RBI single with the bases loaded before Ziemba chased all the runners home with a three-run triple for the 4-0 lead. Three batters later, Logullo added to her day with another RBI single for the final run of the inning.
The Warriors got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second but the Wildcats responded with another scoring outburst, putting six more on the board.
It was Wyatt once again who got the scoring started in the inning, hitting an RBI double to score Ashley Bennett. The big blow of the inning came from one of the unlikeliest of hitters, as a typical slap hitter, McMahon, switched over to the right side of the plate and hit her first collegiate home run, a grand slam at that, making it 10-1.
Nyack again retaliated with three runs in the bottom of the third inning, never giving up throughout the contest. But the Wildcats put the game away with a four-run fifth inning, bringing the eight-run rule into effect.
Becca Stanley started the scoring with an RBI double before coming around to score on a Bennett three-run home run two batters later.
Danielle Griffin pitched a perfect bottom of the fifth inning, securing the CACC sweep for the Wildcats.
McMahon's lone hit brought in a team high four RBI, while Bennett and Ziemba added three RBI each in the nightcap. Doherty, Logullo, Bennett, Panasiti, Wyatt, and Ziemba led the team with two hits apiece in the second game.
Chelsea Botsch moves to 3-5 from inside the circle with the win, pitching four innings while striking out three batters.
Wilmington remains on the road, continuing an unreal stretch of games to begin the month of April. The Wildcats will play eight games in five days next week, starting with a makeup doubleheader at Dominican on Tuesday. They then head to Georgian Court on Wednesday before hosting Holy Family on Thursday. The week rounds out with a doubleheader against Concordia on Saturday. Tuesday's doubleheader is set to begin at 2 p.m.