Softball Drops Pair of Contests Against Widener
WEEHAWKEN, N.J. (March 20, 2021) – The Stevens Institute of Technology softball team fell in a pair of non-conference matchups against Widener University at home Saturday, dropping game one 3-1 and game two 11-5.
First-year Julia Baber hit her first career home run in the opening contest and Samantha Schattin finished 3 for 3 with three doubles and an RBI in game two to lead the way as the Ducks dropped to 3-3 on the season and the Pride moved to 4-4.
"Two very disappointing results for us today," head coach Emily Kaczmarek said. "The positive is you sometimes learn way more when you lose than when you do when you win."
In the circle, Stevens got a complete-game effort from Jessie Masur in game one as the senior tossed 7.0 innings and allowed three runs on five hits while fanning seven. Masur allowed no runs and just three hits after the first inning.
Widener used small ball in the opening game to get on the board first in the opening inning of the doubleheader.
After a walk, a sacrifice bunt, a single and a stolen base put runners on second and third with one out, the Pride executed three consecutive squeeze plays that all resulted in runs to take an early 3-0 advantage.
The score remained the same until the bottom half of the sixth when Baber stepped to the plate in just her third collegiate at-bat and ripped a solo homer over the center field wall to make the score 3-1.
After Masur went three-up, three-down with a pair of punchouts in the top of the seventh, the Ducks brought the tying run to the plate after Madison Gemma was hit by a pitch with two away but were unable to bring a run home as a strikeout ended the first contest.
Along with Baber's homer, Siobhan Cottell led the way in game one by going 2 for 3 while Meg Halloran and Amanda Delorme had one hit apiece.
Game two was a much more high-scoring affair with the Ducks taking the lead first.
Starting pitcher Erin Kreis danced out danger after giving up a pair of singles in the top of the first, inducing two groundouts to end the frame unscathed.
In the bottom half, Schattin ripped her first of three doubles to lead things off and moved to third on a bunt single by Halloran. Two batters later, senior Abigail Circelli brought home Schattin on an RBI fielder's choice to put the Ducks on top 1-0.
The Pride answered immediately in the top half of the second as they put two on the board on a pair of bases loaded walks to take a 2-1 advantage.
One inning later, Widener stretched the lead to 3-1 by taking advantage of a Stevens error with two outs that allowed Hope Dimario to race home.
The Ducks knotted things up in the bottom half of the inning after Schattin doubled and Halloran singled, Circelli ripped a two-run double to left field to score a pair.
Schattin's third double of the contest gave Stevens the lead in the bottom of the fourth as she pulled the ball down the right field line after the first two went down the left field line to bring home Melanie Blarr who doubled herself with one out.
Widener had another response, however, as they used a big two-out rally in the fifth to take the lead for good.
After the first two batters of the inning were retired, the Pride got three straight singles to tie the contest at four apiece. The next two hitters proceeded to hit RBI doubles, the second of the two-run variety, to push the lead to 7-4 and eventually 8-4 after the next batter singled to left.
In the sixth, Widener tacked on three more thanks to more two-out magic with an RBI single and an RBI double to make the score 11-4.
The Ducks did add another run in the bottom of the seventh as Elise Fauske delivered a leadoff double and came around to score on an Olivia Warner RBI single to right field.
Schattin's multi-hit game was her fourth in six games this season and improved her batting average to .500. Behind her in the order, Halloran recorded a pair of bunt singles and scored a run as she was seeing her first action in the 2021 season.
Circelli only recorded one hit in the contest but finished with a team-high three RBIs thanks to the big double in the third.
The two teams will complete the four-game series Sunday in Chester, Penn., at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. Live stats and video will be available on StevensDucks.com.
Gloss