Molloy University Athletics

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Apr. 16, 2016) - Celebrating the senior class of 2016 on Saturday (Apr. 16), the Molloy College softball team split a doubleheader with Bridgeport at Bob Klein Field; the Lions (26-16, 15-7 ECC) won the first game by a score of 2-1 before falling to the Purple Knights (14-24, 7-13 ECC) in the final game of the doubleheader in eight innings, 3-2.

Game One: Molloy 2, Bridgeport 1
The visitors got on the board first against junior pitcher Chelsea Hawks (Wading River, N.Y.) in the third inning as junior Meghan O'Leary (Lafayette, N.J.) lifted a sacrifice fly to right field with the bases loaded to put UB ahead. Molloy did not take long to even things up as sophomore Brianna Dalton (Northampton, Pa.) laced a run-scoring single up the middle of the infield off of Alyssa Bua (Cornwall, N.Y. to score Tracey Balinskas (Edison, N.J.) with the game-tying run. Bua and Hawks dueled in a 1-1 game until the bottom of the sixth inning when Balinskas came through in the clutch. The senior took a 1-1 pitch from Bua and roped the ball down the right field line to send Ashley Fedor (Monroe, Conn.) home with the go-ahead run. Hawks tossed a 1-2-3 seventh inning to slam the door on Bridgeport and earn her 13th victory of the season, going seven innings with eight strikeouts and allowing just one run on three hits. Balinskas went 3-for-4 in the leadoff spot while Dalton had two of Molloy's seven hits in the victory.

Game Two: Bridgeport 3, Molloy 2 - Eight Innings
With the wind blowing in and keeping the softball from leaving Bob Klein Field, Balinskas took to the pitcher's circle and struggled in the first inning of play. After hitting leadoff batter Kaila Crandall (Little Rock, Calif.), UB would score two runs with back-to-back RBI hits. Freshman outfielder Jenna DiLorenzo (Woodbridge, Conn.) smacked an RBI triple down the right-field line to score Crandall; she would score on a run-scoring hit by O'Leary immediately after. Junior Kaitlyn Lajoie (Vernon, Conn.) held Molloy scoreless through the fifth inning but a two-out rally proved to be the ticket for the maroon and white. Junior eight-place batter Erin Clinton (Long Beach, Calif.) drew a walk before designated player Makayla Harris (Berlin, Conn.) sent a single up the middle of the field. Center fielder Paige Owens (Berlin, Conn.) misplayed the ball, allowing the sphere to roll all the way to the wall and score Clinton. The very next batter would be Balinskas, and she shot a ball deep into center field that hopped over the fence for an RBI ground-rule double to tie the game up at two-all. The teams would trade zeroes and send the game to extra innings, where UB scratched across a run in the eighth inning on a groundout by Tara Faford (Grafton, Mass.). In the bottom of the eighth, sophomore Olivia Banulski (Bristol, Conn.) hit a leadoff single but she was stranded at first base as Molloy could not come up with the tying run. In the losing effort, Milan Botte (Reston, Va.) had a team-high two hits overall.

The Lions will travel to Philadelphia on Sunday (Apr. 17) for a non-conference doubleheader with Holy Family University at Bensalem High School, beginning at 12 p.m.