Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 FLUSHING, N.Y. (Mar. 19, 2016) – The Molloy College softball team earned a satisfying sweep of East Coast Conference foe Queens College on Saturday (Mar. 19) in Flushing, winning both games by scores of 3-1 and 6-2 versus the defending ECC regular-season and postseason champs. The Lions, winners of six in a row, are now 11-9 and 2-0 in conference competition while Queens falls to 2-7 and 0-2 in ECC play this season.
Game One: Molloy 3, Queens (N.Y.) 1Molloy scored the first run of the game as junior
Milan Botte (Reston, Va.) lifted a sacrifice fly to left field to bring in
Ashley Fedor (Monroe, Conn.), who had reached on an earlier error. The Lions would score two more runs in the fourth inning as
Tracey Balinskas (Edison, N.J.) hit into a fielder's choice but reached safely, with
Erin Clinton (Long Beach, Calif.) scoring on the play. Botte then hit for her second RBI of the game, driving in
Olivia Banulski (Bristol, Conn.) with a single to put the Lions up by a 3-0 score.
The three runs were more than enough for junior
Chelsea Hawks (Wading River, N.Y.), who tossed a complete game with 10 strikeouts. Hawks surrendered just four hits and one walk, only allowing a solo home run in the fifth inning to Kayla Morrissey (Glen Cove, N.Y.). Hawks improves to 5-5 on the season with the victory.
Game Two: Molloy 6, Queens (N.Y.) 2Again the Lions struck for the game's first run, and again it was an unearned run that crossed the plate as Fedor scored when Botte reached on an error at second base in the first inning. The 1-0 lead for Molloy remained until the fourth inning, when Fedor roped a single to right-center field and brought home Clinton for the second run for the maroon and white. After junior catcher Kristen Boody (Centereach, N.Y.) to cut the deficit in half, the Lions put up a four runs over the next two innings to put the game firmly away.
In the fifth, the Lions loaded the bases with two outs in the frame versus starter Morgan Starley (Windsor, N.Y.) and Clinton worked a walk to bring home a run to put Molloy ahead, 3-1. Molloy utilized the sixth inning to distance themselves from the opposition as the Lions teed off on pitcher Lauren Pascual (Woodland Hills, Calif.) for three runs in the contest. With one out, Balinskas reached on an error to score Fedor and then Botte would drive in another run with a double to right-center field. Then sophomore
Brianna Dalton (Northampton, Pa.) knocked in pinch runner
Chrissy Heyer (Brooklyn, N.Y.) with a double to left field to close the Lions' scoring account in what would be a 6-2 win.
Balinskas matched Hawks' effort from game one by tossing a complete-game for her fourth win of the year. The senior allowed two runs on four hits, walking three and striking out five. Botte and
Alexandra Russo (Coram, N.Y.) had two hits each while Fedor got on base four times (one hit, three walks) in the win.
The Molloy College softball team will play in Sparkill on Tuesday (Mar. 22) when the Lions face ECC foe Saint Thomas Aquinas.
