MADISON (NJ) – Delaware Valley University dropped a 5-4, eight-inning affair in game two, after a 2-1 victory in the opener, to earn a split at FDU-Florham in its first Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom twin bill of the 2018 season.
The Aggies moved to 6-5 overall and 1-1 in league play while the Devils went to 8-12 and 3-3.
With
Julie Burns and
Morgan Hawk aboard with nobody out in the second inning,
Gina Formisano laced a double to center field to score Hawk and give DelVal a 1-0 lead. Abbey Scarangelli then got two strike outs and a ground out to limit the damage for FDU.
Neither teamed threatened again until the bottom of the sixth when the Devils had runners on second and third and one out, but
Jamie Stefani got out of the jam with a punch out and ground ball to.
In the next frame,
Jess Ellick worked an eight-pitch walk to start the seventh and was moved over on a sacrifice from
Koraima Dudley. Stefani stepped to the plate and singled home Ellick to make it a 2-0 game.
FDU had one more chance in the bottom of the seventh and made things interesting as Taylor Tobey doubled home Gabby Young with two outs. However, Stefani got Taylor Torre to pop-up to Dudley for the final out and the 2-1 win.
Freshman
Julie Burns got the start in the circle in game two and the Aggies helped her to a 4-0 lead with a four-run top of the third. Two of the first three batters were hit by a pitch and Ellick got a single to load the bases for
Stefani. The junior cleared the bases with a single and an error and later came around to score as
Caitlin Stoner picked up an RBI.
The Devils got on the board in the fourth inning with an unearned run scored by Tobey, who was aboard with a lead-off single, to make it 4-1 after four. In the fifth, DelVal committed three errors and allowed two unearned runs as FDU tied the game at 4-4. Tara Morash earned an RBI with a single to left in the inning.
Each team had one hit apiece over the next two frames and the game went to extra innings tied at four apiece. In the bottom of the eighth, with Stefani on the mound for the Aggies, pinch-hitter Francesca Shipe worked a lead-off walk and eventually came around to score on a wild pitch to walk the Devils off with a 5-4 victory.
Stefani finished the day 5-for-8 with three RBIs and a run scored at the dish while earning a win and a loss from the circle. After pitching a complete game with no earned runs allowed and seven strikeouts in the opener, she went for three innings in relief and gave up the one run while striking out two in the second game.
Julie Burns pitched 4.2 innings with two strikeouts two earned runs and went 2-for-3 at the dish in game one. Ellick had two walks, one hit and two runs scored in the two games. Hawk picked up a pair of hits in the nightcap and
Jess Burns came off the bench to go 1-for-1.
Tobey had two hits in each game while combining for two runs scored and an RBI to lead the Devils. Courtney Rhodes had three hits on the afternoon while Morash went 1-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI in game two.
Linda Rizzo pitched 5.2 innings in the win while striking out five and allowing no earned runs. Scarengelli earned the loss in game one after going 6.1 innings with six punch outs two earned runs allowed.
The Aggies will play their first game on home soil in 2018 as it hosts MAC Freedom foe Wilkes University tomorrow at 1 p.m.
