Sparkill, N.Y.- Needing a victory to secure the top seed and hosting rights in the upcoming East Coast Conference Championship, the softball team split a doubleheader with the Spartans of Saint Thomas Aquinas College, falling 3-0 before clinching with a 6-2 victory. The Lions (28-20) and Spartans (29-21) both finish 16-4 in league play and split their head-to-head contests on the season and will finish as Co-Regular Season Champions. Molloy's four-game sweep of Mercy University in the regular season broke the tie between the two teams to determine hosting rights.
Game One: St. Thomas Aquinas 3, Molloy 0
How it Happened
- After just one combined hit in the first two innings, Saint Thomas Aquinas broke the scoring deadlock in the bottom of the third inning following a single from Jessica Feerick.
- With runners on first and second, Eliana Raposo made it 2-0 with a single up the middle before Olivia Leon's single made it 3-0 after three innings.
- Molloy's best chance came in the sixth innings with singles from graduate students Emma Bachman and Alex Burns and a walk to freshman Stevie Dabbadie loading the bases, but the Lions were not able to plate a run.
Top Performances
Game Two: Molloy 6, St. Thomas Aquinas 2
How it Happened
- The Lions wasted no time scoring in game two with a lead off double from Huhn followed by back-to-back singles from Conrade and Burns to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
- A walk to Dabbadie put runners on first and second for senior Katie Hand, who doubled the lead with a single to right field.
- A ground rule double from junior Cheralyn Dusharme cleared the bases and made it 4-0 Lions.
- Batting around the line up, Bachman ended the first inning's scoring with a two-run single to make it 6-0.
- The home team responded in the bottom of the third inning with a single to left field from Amanda Demmerle followed by a double to left center from Elyse Marcano.
- An RBI groundout to the short stop plated the first run for the Spartans, before a single to left field from Raposo narrowed the gap to four.
- Molloy's defensive and Mariottini's pitching limited the Spartans to just three hits in the final four innings to secure a doubleheader split.
Top Performances
- Bachman led the team, going 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBI.
- Freshman Sophia Mariottini pitched four innings in relief, striking out three batters for the victory.
- Dusharme, Hand, and Savage each contributed two hits.
- Dabbadie pitched 2.1 innings, shutting down two batters.
Up Next
Top-seeded Molloy will host fourth-seeded the Mercy Mavericks in the first day of the conference tournament on Thursday (May 2)
at noon from Bob Klein Field in Rockville Centre, N.Y.
