Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Apr. 6, 2016) – Spurred on by six RBIs from sophomore
Brianna Dalton (Northampton, Pa.) in both halves of Wednesday night's doubleheader, the Molloy College softball team swept away Dowling College with wins of 6-2 and 8-4 at Bob Klein Field. The Lions' record improves to 20-12 overall with an 11-3 record in ECC play while Dowling falls to 7-19 and 2-10 in conference competition.
Game One: Molloy 6, Dowling 2The maroon and white fell behind in the first inning on a solo home run from Gianna Gatto (Smithtown, N.Y.) that carried into the strong wind stream and over the left-field fence to put the Golden Lions ahead 1-0. Molloy was able to strike back against freshman pitcher Stephanie White (Hamilton, N.J.) in the bottom half of the frame as
Ashley Fedor (Monroe, Conn.) and Dalton hit back-to-back RBI doubles to put the hosts up 2-1. In the second inning, freshman
Kaitlyn Snyder (Smithtown, N.Y.) launched a towering fly ball on a 2-1 count that cleared the left-field fence with no doubt; Snyder's first career home run gave the Lions a two-run lead and knocked White out from the game.
Both teams struggled to score from that point forward as both Vanessa Juengerkes (Islip, N.Y.) and
Chelsea Hawks (Wading River, N.Y.) kept the game at a 3-1 score until the sixth inning. Dowling scratched a run across in that frame to cut the lead down to a run, but junior
Erin Clinton (Long Beach, Calif.) sent a Juengerkes offering over the fence for a solo homer to put Molloy back up by two. Dalton would close the scoring later in the same frame with a two-run single as the maroon and white took a 6-2 victory. Hawks went the distance, striking out five while surrendering three hits and two runs in her ninth win of the season. Dalton had three of Molloy's 11 hits and drove in three runs, while Clinton and
Alexandra Russo (Coram, N.Y.) each smacked two base hits.
Game Two: Molloy 8, Dowling 4The bottom of the line-up broke open the nightcap of the doubleheader for Molloy in the second inning. Sophomore
Chrissy Heyer (Brooklyn, N.Y.) slapped a 1-0 pitch from Juengerkes past the drawn-in outfield and all the way to the warning track in left-center, scoring both Russo and Dalton; the Brooklyn native glided around the bases and slid safely into third base with a two-run triple. One pitch later, Heyer trotted home as Snyder tattooed the first pitch she saw from Juengerkes deep into the Rockville Centre night for her second home run in as many games and a 4-0 Lions lead. Molloy led 5-0 on a Dalton sacrifice fly and 6-2 after four innings thanks to a Snyder RBI hit. In the bottom of the fifth, the sophomore from Pennsylvania would find her way onto the long ball sheet by crushing a pitch over the wall in left-center to put Molloy up 8-2.
That would be enough for freshman
Jenna Turato (Garden City South, N.Y.) who pitched six-and-two-thirds innings of three-run, seven-hit ball while striking out four Dowling batters to earn her fifth win of the season. Dalton and Snyder both had two hits and drove in three runs in the victory.
Molloy will host Saint Thomas Aquinas on Thursday (Apr. 7) at Bob Klein Field at 3 p.m.
