Rockville Centre, N.Y. – The Molloy softball team split a doubleheader with the Mercy Mavericks Tuesday afternoon at Bob Klein Field. The Lions won the first game, 1-0, in a thrilling 11 inning contest, and lost the second game, 7-4. The maroon and white moved to 12-15 overall and 6-2 in ECC play, while the Mavericks moved to 4-25 overall and 2-4 in league play.
 
Game One: Molloy 1, Mercy 0

• Pitching and defense were the name of the game through the first three innings of play. Graduate student Courtney Greene and Mercy starting pitcher Alexi Benson did not allow either team to threaten the scoreboard.
• In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Lions got a runner to third with less than two outs, but the Mercy defense held off the home team from scoring.
• In the top of the sixth, Mercy generated its first scoring opportunity, drawing two walks and had the go ahead run 120 feet away, but Greene struck out the final batter to close the inning keeping the game scoreless.
• The Lions had a chance to win it in the bottom of the seventh, with runners on first and third with two outs, but were unable to convert. The game was headed for extra innings knotted at zero.
• In the top of the eighth, the Mavericks had their sights set on taking the lead, but Greene induced an inning ending double play to keep the road team from scoring.
• Later in the tenth, Mercy loaded the bases, but again, Greene would not let Mercy break through, stranding three runners on base keeping the game scoreless.
• In the bottom of the eleventh, sophomore Greene singled to the shortstop, junior Karsyn Eaton moved her to second on a fielder's choice, and down in the count 0-2, freshman Natalie Moussa singled up the middle to score Greene securing a thrilling, 1-0, victory for Molloy.
• Greene pitched a complete game shutout, allowed five hits, and struck out nine to move to 8-6 on the season.

Game Two: Molloy 4, Mercy 7

• After two innings of scoreless softball, Mercy grabbed a 2-0 lead following a two-RBI double from Samantha Franck.
• The Mavericks tallied a third run in the fourth, increasing their lead to 3-0.
• In the bottom of the fourth, senior Alex Burns cut the deficit to one, 3-2, hitting a two-RBI single, which plated junior Steph Conrade and senior Marissa Nicoletti.
• The road team tallied three runs in the fifth, and one in the sixth to take a 7-2 advantage.
• Burns singled home another pair of runners in the sixth to cut the deficit to three, 7-4, but that was all the Mercy pitching staff would allow, as the Mavericks secured game two, 7-4.
• Burns tallied two hits and drove in four RBIs. She has reached base in 18 consecutive contests. 
• Conrade totaled three hits, while scoring two runs and extended her hitting streak to 14 games. 

Up Next
The Lions will travel down the road to Garden City to play local rival Adelphi Thursday, April 7. The doubleheader is set to begin at 2:30 p.m.