CENTER VALLEY (Pa.) – The Delaware Valley University softball team stumbled to an 11-0 defeat in game one, but bounced back with a thrilling, 8-7, victory in the night cap to secure a Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom doubleheader split at rival DeSales University
The Aggies moved to 8-10 overall and 2-2 in league games while the Bulldogs sit at 6-6 and 3-1.
DeSales jumped on DelVal early in game one with seven runs on six hits and four walks in the first inning. The Aggies finished the game with just two hits and the Bulldogs scored two more in the third and the fourth inning to secure the 11-0 win after five innings.
DeSales' pitcher Aubree Fritzinger went 3-for-4 at the plate with two runs scored and an RBI and she pitched a complete game with just two hits allowed and seven strike outs. Erin Redden went 3-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored and Leann Panconi drove in three runs and scored another.
Jamie Stefani suffered her third loss in the circle and allowed nine earned runs on 13 hits and five walks with four punch outs.
The Bulldogs got on the board first in game two with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second on three hits.
DelVal had just one hit through the first three frames, but came alive in the fourth as Stefani hit a lead-off single and Julie Burns doubled down the left field line to move Stefani to third. Junior Caitlin Stoner followed with a double to left field that tied the game at 2-2.
In the bottom of the fourth, DeSales got one of the runs back as Fritzinger laced an RBI double to center to make it 3-2, Bulldogs. They tacked on one more run, unearned, in the bottom of the fifth to double-up on DelVal 4-2.
The Aggies came alive in the sixth inning with a two-out rally started by freshman Caitlyn Pollock's single to right center field. Classmates Olivia Monismith and Faith Sleva followed with singles of their own and Kayla Keller worked a walk to make it 4-3. Senior Maddy O'Donohue gave DelVal the lead with a single down the left field line that plated two and made it 5-4. After a pitching change, Stefani came up and jacked her third home run of the season to right center field, a three-run shot that gave the Aggies the cushion they needed, 8-4.
DeSales threatened in the bottom of the seventh as Caitlyn Newsom hit a bases clearing double to left center to make it an 8-7 game with a runner on second and just one out. After an error put runners on second and third, the Aggies got a strikeout to end the game and seal the 8-7 victory.
Julie Burns got the start in the circle and won her third game of the season after allowing four runs (three earned) on eight hits and three strikeouts in five innings pitched. Stefani pitched the final two frames and allowed three runs on four hits with four punch outs including the one to end the game.
At the dish, Stefani led the way with a 4-for-4 effort, three RBIs and two runs scored including the home run. Pollock followed with two hits and O'Donohue and Stoner each drove in a pair. DelVal had 12 hits as a team from eight different players.
Fritzinger went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a walk to pace the Bulldogs and Gianna D'Acunto and Reilly Kerr each recorded a pair of hits. Heather Hall went 5.2 innings with seven earned runs allowed on 10 hits and one walk in the loss.
The Aggies will play at Cedar Crest College in a doubleheader affair on Thursday beginning at 3 p.m.
