Press Release Written by Sports Information Graduate Intern MaryKate Rumbaugh
BRONXVILLE, N.Y. – The Wilmington University softball team tossed its 10th shutout of the season in game one with a 4-0 win, before taking game two with a five-run fifth inning over Concordia on Saturday afternoon at Clipper Field.
Game One:
A run in each of the first four innings, on top of nine hits and three Concordia errors, would give the Wildcats the 4-0 win in game one.
Rosa'Lynn Burton would get the Wildcats started in the top of the first inning with a walk, before stealing second and third to give Kiana Broderson-Jones the chance to hit a sacrifice fly out to center and give WilmU the early 1-0 lead.
Alyssa Velasquez would start the second inning the same way Burton started the first, with a walk and stolen base to put her in scoring position. Courtney Dellinger would then advance Velasquez to third on a single to center. As Dellinger stole second, a throwing error by the catcher would score Velasquez from third for the 2-0 lead.
Kiana Broderson-Jones started the top of the third inning off with a double to left center, before Makayla McCarthy singled to left center with one out. The first four innings for the Wildcats started off with the first batter getting on base, including in the fourth inning, when Courtney Dellinger got her second hit of the game. With Dellinger on second and two outs, Rosa'Lynn Burton was able to reach on a fielding error by the center fielder to advance to third and score Dellinger to give WilmU their fourth and final run of the game.
Caitlyn Whiteside would throw the two-hit shutout, allowing the only two hits in the third and fourth innings. In the other five innings, Whiteside would retire the side in order. She finished with one walk and three strikeouts to improve to 14-6 on the season.
Makayla McCarthy would go 2-for-3 with one RBI, as Courtney Dellinger went 2-for-4. Kiana Broderson-Jones would have one hit and one RBI.
Game Two:
Down by one, a five-run fifth inning would give WilmU a 6-2 lead and help pull away from Concordia (9-13, 5-9 CACC) in game two.
Courtney Dellinger would give the Wildcats the 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning with a single to left field to score Rosa'Lynn Burton, but the lead would quickly disappear as a two-run homerun from Concordia would put the Clippers in front, 2-1, heading into the second inning. A double from Lauren Lopez would be the only action for Wilmington until the top of the fifth inning.
With two outs, Annie Davila singled to left field, scoring Alyssa Velasquez to tie the game at 2-2. Dellinger and Kiana Broderson-Jones would be the next two batters to get on for the Wildcats to bring up Makayla McCarthy, who singled through the left side bringing both Dellinger and Davila home. Lauren Lopez would keep it going, as she reached on a fielding error from the left fielder, before advancing to second, scoring Broderon-Jones and McCarthy to give the Wildcats a 6-2 lead.
With two outs again in the top of the seventh inning, Lopez would hit a two-run homerun out to left field for a couple insurance runs to take an 8-2 lead heading into the Clippers' final at bats.
The Clippers had runners in scoring position with two outs in the bottom half of the seventh, when they scored off a Wildcats errors, but McCarthy would get the final batter to fly out to center field and end the game.
Courtney Dellinger went 2-for-3 with one RBI, as Lauren Lopez went 2-for-4 with a homerun and a double for two RBI. Makayla McCarthy had one hit for the Wildcats and two RBI, while Annie Davila had one hit and one RBI.
McCarthy would go seven innings, allowing eight hits, four runs, and three walks, with nine strikeouts to improve to 8-3 on the year.
Next Up:
The Wildcats are right back on the road as they travel to Post for a doubleheader with the Eagles tomorrow afternoon. Game one is slated for 12:00 p.m.