ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Apr. 12, 2016) - The Molloy College softball team is in the midst of a marathon week with five doubleheaders scheduled from Monday (Apr. 11) through Sunday (Apr. 17) as the Lions look to get games in against both regional and inter-conference competition. After winning a doubleheader with Dominican College on Monday (Apr. 11) at home, the maroon and white will take to the road for two straight doubleheader contests against ECC foes as the conference schedule winds down. First the Lions will face Mercy on Wednesday (Apr. 13) in Dobbs Ferry before traveling to Brookville on Thursday (Apr. 14) to square off with LIU Post.
About the Lions- Molloy is 23-13 overall and 13-4 in conference play so far this season. The Lions have built up a successful season by winning 12 of 14 games at home and going 7-3 on the road so far in 2016.
- Sophomore shortstop
Brianna Dalton (Northampton, Pa.) had her 17-game hitting streak snapped in the final game of Monday's doubleheader against Dominican College. But the reigning ECC Player of the Week has a current 19-game run of reaching base safely, as she drew a walk against the Chargers in the nightcap of the series. Dalton is hitting an impressive. 387 with three home runs and nine doubles as well as a team-high 34 runs batted in.
- Senior
Tracey Balinskas (Edison, N.J.) has a team-leading .436 batting average with 12 doubles, six home runs and 29 RBIs and she holds the team lead as of now with a 10-game current hitting streak. Meanwhile, sophomore catcher
Alexandra Russo (Coram, N.Y.) rocked a grand slam against the Chargers for her second home run of the season; in the games that Russo hit a long ball, she drove in a combined nine RBIs.
- The pitching of junior
Chelsea Hawks (Wading River, N.Y.) has kept the Lions in control of the first game of doubleheaders. Hawks is 11-7 with a 3.02 ERA and a win in her last four starts.
About the Opponents- Mercy College is 16-20 and 5-7 in East Coast Conference play; the Mavericks earned a split in two games back on Mar. 26 in Rockville Centre against the Lions.
- Sophomore outfielder Marlena Marzigliano (Highland Mills, N.Y.) has a team-best .402 batting average while freshman Kaylee Stevens (Simi Valley, Calif.) is slugging .529 with four home runs on the season. First-year hurler McKaily Cusumano (Monroe, Mich.) has a 6-6 record with a 1.90 earned-run average while the Mavs as a team have a 3.37 ERA on the year.
- LIU Post, meanwhile, is 22-7-1 and will enter the Thursday doubleheader with the maroon and white after sweeping No. 25 Southern New Hampshire on Sunday (Apr. 10). The Pioneers are 11-1 in East Coast Conference play and 10-1-1 at home so far this season.
- Freshman Julia Seader (Piscataway, N.J.) leads LIU Post with three home runs and a .398 batting average in a relatively quiet year for the green and gold at the plate. The Pioneers as a team have slugged just 12 home runs, a stark comparison to the 37 the team hit last spring and the program-record 85 that LIU Post recorded in 2014.
- The pitching has been superlative for Jamie Apicella's club this season as junior Ashley Martin (Long Beach, N.Y.) continues a fantastic career with a 10-4 record and a 1.07 ERA. Meanwhile, freshman Hannah Olshevski (Robbinsville, N.J.) is 12-3 with an earned-run average of 1.66.
