CLERMONT (FL) – The Delaware Valley University softball team earned a thrilling 3-1 victory in the second game of the day against Millikin University after falling to FDU-Florham by a score of 4-1 in the day's opener.
The Devils got into the win column for the first time this year and moved to 1-4 on the season while the Aggies fell to 1-2.
With two outs in the top of the first inning, DelVal worked to singles and a walk to load the bases for
Jess Burns. Burns connected with the first pitch she saw and sent a ball to deep center field, but it was tracked down in the outfield for the third out.
FDU broke the scoreless tie in the second when Taylor Torre singled through the left side to score Annamarie Santangelo. The Devils added another in the fourth as Tara Morash brought in Rebecca DeCarlo from second base with a single to left field to make it 2-0.
The Aggies got on the board in the fifth inning when Nina Dudley hustled out a single and advanced to second on errant throw. She moved up to third on another error and
Morgan Hawk brought her in to make it a 2-1 game.
That is the closest DelVal would get as FDU added two more runs in the sixth inning and ran away with the 4-1 victory.
Abbey Scarengelli pitched five innings in the win and gave up no earned runs on five hits and three strikeouts.
Torrey was the only player in the game with multiple hits, going 2-for-3 with an RBI. Taylor Tobey drove in two runs with an RBI double and Frannie Jarin went 1-for-1 with a run scored.
For the Aggies,
Julie Burns went the distance in the circle giving up four earned runs and striking out two. Burns also had a base knock at the plate as did Dudley,
Jess Ellick,
Morgan Hawk, and
Jamie Stefani.
In the late afternoon game, Stefani took to the mound and got two strikeouts in the first frame. However, in the second, the Big Blue broke the scoreless tie on two hits and an error. Alyssa White picked up the RBI with a sacrifice fly to center field that plated Chelsea Eads.
Each team registered just one hit until the fourth inning. Stefani led off in the bottom of the frame and took the first pitch she saw deep to right field and over the fence for her first home run of the year and a 1-1 tie in the game.
Then in the sixth with the game still tied, the Aggies had runners on the corners with two outs and
Kayla Keller at the plate. The sophomore stepped up with her second hit of the game, a double to left center field and
Kassandra Hyde came in to score from third while
Gina Formisano raced around to score all the way from first and make it 3-1.
Millikin had one last chance in the top of the seventh and had two runners in scoring position including Alyssa White who was aboard after a legging out a triple to right field. However, Stefani worked out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts in the frame to seal the 3-1 victory.
Stefani finished the game with 11 strikeouts, one shy of the single-game school record that she reached on two different occasions in 2016 and 2017, and allowed just four hits with no earned runs. At the plate she went 2-for-3 with the home run while Hawk and Keller also finished with two hits. Stoner and
Maddy O'Donohue also had one hit apiece in the win.
The Aggies will be back in action tomorrow with a pair of games starting at 9 a.m. against the University of Minnesota – Morris and concluding at 11:30 a.m. against Rippon College.
