Freshmen Key Stevens' Sweep of Mt. St. Vincent
WEEHAWKEN, N.J. (April 28, 2011) – The Stevens Institute of Technology softball team (21-15) exploded for a dozen runs in the bottom of the fourth inning in the second game of their doubleheader with the College of Mt. St. Vincent to force the application of the mercy rule in the next inning of their 12-0 victory. First-year players Danielle DeFeo, Noreen Jordan and Kayla Berardi combined to go 6-for-8 at the plate with six RBI and four runs scored in game two while Berardi earned her 14th win of the year with a shutout effort in the circle.
Game 1
Stevens starter Kayla Berardi made quick work of the Dolphins in the first, getting out of the inning with two strikeouts on just 11 pitches. She then led off the bottom of the first by reaching on an error to the left side. Danielle DeFeo followed with a bunt single to put the first two batters on for Stevens. Clair Strom then ripped a 2-RBI double to right and Stephanie Senkevich walloped a long RBI single to the right field gap for a quick 3-0 Stevens lead.
Noreen Jordan singled and another run scored on the play, making the score 4-0. Sarah Parker and Lauren Hurley then walked to load the bases.Stevens scored five more times before the inning was out as Mt. St. Vincent committed six errors in the first frame.
Berardi walked the first Dolphin batter in the second inning, but settled in and got the next two out.
Then, with two outs in the top of the second inning, Mt. St. Vincent was forced to forfeit the first game due to an injury with the scoreboard reading 9-0 in favor of Stevens. Though the Dolphins had nine healthy players remaining, the flex player may not enter the batting lineup.
By rule, the game will be recorded as a 7-0 Stevens victory, but no individual statistics from the game will count.
Game 2
Mami O’Shea (White Plains, N.Y.) led off the game for the Dolphins with a clean base hit to left. After she was sacrificed to second, Leeane Cerbone (Bronx, N.Y.) singled to the left side and both runners advanced to second and third on wild pitches with just one down. But Stevens starter Kayla Berardi induced a popup and struck out the last batter of the inning to shut the door in the first.
Berardi and DeFeo started the game for Stevens with bunt singles, though Berardi was erased attempting to move to third. Mt. St. Vincent pitcher Kelly Donlon (Carmel, N.Y.) ended the frame with a strikeout and the teams were scoreless after one.
Berardi set the Dolphins down in order in the second, punctuating the frame with a swinging strikeout. The Ducks also went 1-2-3 in the second.
With one out in the top of the third, O’Shea singled down the rightfield line and advanced to third with two down, but Berardi kept her shutout with a good two-out play up the middle by shortstop Naomi Sacks. Stevens went quickly in their half of the third as the game remained scoreless and began to get tense.
Ashley Winn (Queens, N.Y.) led off the Mt. St. Vincent fourth with a double to the base of the fence in left field. She was sacrificed to third, but a strikeout and a good scoop by Senkevich at first finally thwarted the Dolphin threat.
DeFeo led off the fourth with a bunt single, followed by a walk earned by Naomi Sacks and another single by Senkevich to center loaded the bases with nobody out. Noreen Jordan and Sarah Parker stroked back-to-back RBI singles to break the deadlock and give the Ducks a 4-0 lead. Clair Strom ripped a double the left-centerfield gap to score one and Kayla Berardi singled to drive in another and make the score 6-0. A bases-loaded hit-by-pitch and an error moved the Ducks to the eight-run mercy rule plateau with two down in the frame.
With two down and the bases still loaded, Noreen Jordan ripped a double to centerfield. It was misplayed, and Jordan came all the way around to score as the inning ended 12-0 after the Ducks busted the game open with a dozen runs in the fourth.
New Stevens pitcher Molly Herforth walked the leadoff hitter in the fifth but struck out the next two to put Stevens on the verge of victory. A comebacker back to Herforth in the circle ended the 12-0 win for the Ducks, who moved to 21-15 on the year with the midweek sweep.