Six-Run Comeback Sets up Stevens Sweep of Elmira
ELMIRA, N.Y. (April 22, 2011) – After taking the first game of their vital doubleheader with Elmira College by a score of 5-3, the Stevens Institute of Technology softball team rallied from an 8-4 deficit in the seventh inning of game two to send that contest into extra innings. The Ducks then prevailed by scoring six runs in the eighth to earn the sweep with a 14-9 win. Clair Strom hit homeruns in both of Friday's games and Kayla Berardi earned both wins in the circle for Stevens.
The Soaring Eagles and Ducks came into Friday’s games tied for the Empire 8’s final playoff spot.
Game 1
In the first inning of game one, Kayla Berardi and Naomi Sacks began the game with base hits to put two runners on with one out. Stephanie Senkevich then gave the Ducks early control of the game with a 2-RBI double to left-center field for a 2-0 lead.
Stevens starter Kayla Berardi turned Elmira away in the bottom of the first, beginning and ending the frame with swinging strikeouts.
Noreen Jordan singled to left and Sarah Parker walked as the Ducks threatened again in the second as they put their first two runners on, though the team did not score in the second. Berardi set the Soaring Eagles down in order in the bottom of the second.
The Ducks scored two more in the top of the third to double their lead. Clair Strom and Senkevich were hit with pitches. Victoria Webber followed with a single to left to load the bases and Noreen Jordan ripped a 2-RBI double to right-center as Stevens led 4-0.
Elmira got one back in the home half of the third on an RBI double to trim the Duck lead to 4-1.
Stevens kept up its scoring streak in the fourth, as Berardi began the inning by singling to shortstop. Sacks moved her to third with a hit to right-center and Strom lifted a deep fly ball to left that allowed Berardi to score, making the lead four runs again at 5-1.
Elmira built a picket fence on the scoreboard by scoring single runs in both the fourth and fifth, making the score 5-3.
Over the rest of the game, Sacks doubled in the sixth and Webber and Parker singled in the seventh. After the three consecutive scoring innings for Elmira, Berardi allowed just one baserunner over the last two innings as she earned the game one win. She struck out nine while earning her 12th win of the year.
Game 2
In the day’s second game, it was Elmira that jumped out to an early lead, as they scored eight runs over the first four innings. The Ducks attempted to keep pace, scoring on a solo homerun to right-center by Clair Strom in the second inning for their first run and getting another as Lauren Hurley scooted home on a wild pitch in the third. After four full innings, however, the Golden Flyers led 8-2.
Kayla Berardi re-entered the circle for Stevens in the third, and held down Elmira enough so that the Ducks could attempt a comeback.
After Sarah Parker reached on an error, Lauren Hurley singled to put two on for Berardi. The new pitcher came through with a two-RBI single to trim the lead to 8-4. Sacks also singled in the inning for Stevens.
Over the next inning and a half, only one hitter reached base as the teams entered the final frame with Stevens needing to score four to tie.
Sarah Parker began the Stevens seventh with a double to left field, and Berardi walked with one away. Then with two down, Naomi Sacks singled to right to drive in both baserunners and trim the deficit to two. Clair Strom then knocked arguably the most dramatic and important homerun in Stevens softball history over the wall in centerfield to tie the game at eight with two down in the final frame of regulation.
Berardi then forced extras by shutting out the Golden Flyers in their half of the seventh.
Parker again got things going in the eighth by walking and stealing second. Following that Hurley, Berardi and Molly Herforth all walked in a row to force home a run without the Ducks even needing to take the bats off their shoulders. Sacks then ripped a single up the middle, driving in two runs and making the score 11-8. Following a Clair Strom single, Stephanie Senkevich put the game out of reach with a three-run moon shot over the right-centerfield fence that made the score 14-8. Webber also singled in the frame as the Ducks completely turned the tables with their own six-run lead.
Though Elmira put up token resistance in their half of the eighth and scored one, the Ducks returned home with an uber-important conference sweep after their 14-9 win in game two.
The Ducks are now in control of their playoff destiny with just one Empire 8 doubleheader left to play. The team will host the College of Mt. St. Vincent on Thursday, April 28 at 7 p.m. before wrapping up league play at Utica College on April 30.