Molloy University Athletics

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Apr. 19, 2016) – The Molloy College softball team battled but ultimately fell short in a doubleheader with LIU Post on Tuesday (Apr. 19) at Bob Klein Field in Rockville Centre. With wins of 7-5 and 6-3, the Pioneers improved to 29-8-1 on the season and 18-2 in ECC play while Molloy fell to 26-20 overall and 15-9 in conference competition.

Game One: LIU Post 7, Molloy 5 – Eight Innings
The visitors got on the board with runs in both the first and second innings against Molloy starter Chelsea Hawks (Wading River, N.Y.). In the opening frame, a line shot by senior designated player Paige Swantek (Smithtown, N.Y.) ricocheted off the glove of Ashley Fedor (Monroe, Conn.) and down the third base line, scoring Samantha Marrone (Holbrook, N.Y.) to put LIU Post out in front by a score of 1-0. In the second inning, the Pioneers tacked on another run as freshman Leah Mele (Coram, N.Y.) shot a single up the middle to score Kayla McCoy (Smithtown, N.Y.). The Lions evened up the score in the bottom of the frame on a two-run, no-doubt home run by Fedor over the left-field wall. The maroon and white would take the lead in the next inning as sophomore Brianna Dalton (Northampton, Pa.) laced an Ashley Martin (Long Beach, N.Y.) pitch into the right-center field gap that scored Olivia Banulski (Bristol, Conn.) and put Molloy up by a 3-2 margin.

Hawks, to her credit, battled through a couple of laborious innings as LIU Post continually fouled off pitches and extended at-bats to the point where the junior's pitch count was rapidly rising. The 3-2 lead for the Lions remained until the top of the seventh when the Pioneers finally broke through against Hawks. With two outs in the inning and runners on the corners, Swantek blooped a single to center field that fell just in front of a diving Banulski; the play scored Marrone and evened the score at three-all. The very next batter, Isabella Corrao (Farmingdale, N.Y.) tapped a single back up the middle that scored Claire Travis (East Meadow, N.Y.) with the go-ahead run. McCoy then doubled home another run as the Pio's scored three times to take a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the frame and put Martin back in line for the win. The hosts, however, had other ideas.

After Tracey Balinskas (Edison, N.J.) wore a 1-0 rise ball to reach base safely, Martin yielded way to Hannah Olshevski (Robbinsville, N.J.) and Banulski reached on a fielder's choice. Molloy designated player Milan Botte (Reston, Va.) stepped to the plate and cranked a 2-0 pitch over the right-field wall to tie the game at five. Extra innings decided the fate of the game and the Pioneers would score two runs in the top of the eighth on a run-scoring ground out from Julia Seader (Piscataway, N.J.) and an RBI double off the bat of Maria Palmeri (Middle Village, N.Y.). Molloy put two runners aboard with two outs, but Olshevski induced a Balinskas pop out to end the opening affair.

Game Two: LIU Post 6, Molloy 3
Molloy was the team that jumped on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the opening inning against Olshevski. With the bases loaded and one out, sophomore catcher Alexandra Russo (Coram, N.Y.) lined a ball to center field that was caught by Marrone. The throw home beat Banulski, but the sophomore made a heads-up play by taking advantage of the umpire's hesitation in making a ruling and stepping on the plate to be awarded home and the game's first run. LIU Post got back even in the third inning, however, as Seader lined a pitch from Balinskas down the right-field line that curled around the foul pole and over the wall for a home run.

The game stayed tied at one-all until the sixth inning when the Pioneers put up two runs off of Balinskas thanks to a fielder's choice off the bat of Ashley Melendez (Levittown, N.Y.) and an RBI single from Mele. The Pioneers tacked on three more runs in the seventh inning for added measure, and Balinskas smacked a two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the frame for the final margin.

Molloy College will next be in action on Friday (Apr. 22) when the Lions head to New Jersey to face Caldwell College in a non-conference tilt at 2:30 p.m.