Walk-Off Home Run Catapults Ducks To ECAC Title Game
Danny Vohden
GALLOWAY, N.J. (May 10, 2014) – Stevens Institute of Technology junior softball player
Noelle Mulligan hit a walk-off home run against Richard Stockton College Saturday, leading the Ducks to a 4-3 win.
With the Ducks 8-3 win against Farleigh Dickinson University – College at Florham earlier in the day, Stevens (30-11) is now one win away from its first ECAC Championship.
Stevens 8, FDU-Florham 2
After senior pitcher
Kayla Berardi retired the side in order in the first, Stevens capitalized with five runs in their half of the inning. With the bases loaded and one out, freshman
Emily Sellitti singled to score one followed by a single from freshman
Kelly Klewicki to add one more. With a 2-0 lead and the bases still loaded, senior
Stephanie Senkevich broke the game open with a bases-clearing double to center.
Facing a five-run deficit, FDU answered in the second when freshman Paige Lillie singled-home a run, but Berardi struck-out senior Toni-ann Canova to escape further damage.
Both teams traded zeroes in the third and fourth before Stevens added to its lead in the fifth. Klewicki started the scoring with an RBI single to score freshman
Jessica Rees, followed by an RBI ground-out from Mulligan to score Sellitti. With two-outs, freshman
Gina Schnecker extended the lead to 8-1 with an RBI single to score Klewicki.
Berardi made the lead stick in the sixth by working out of a first-and-second, one-out jam with back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat. FDU scored one-more in the seventh off sophomore Jaclyn Herrington's two-out home-run, but Berardi shut the door on the win by inducing an infield pop-up.
Senkevich led all hitters with three RBIs, while Klewicki added two. Berardi struck-out nine to earn her team-leading 18
th win of the year.
Stevens 4, Stockton 3
Both squads traded zeroes in the first, but Stockton mounted a one-out, bases-loaded rally in the second. Berardi worked-out of it though, inducing a ground-ball-out before striking out freshman Lauren Knoble to escape the jam without giving-up any runs.
The Ducks promptly rewarded Berardi's effort with two runs in the bottom of the inning. With the bases loaded and one-out, Mulligan singled down the leftfield-line to score one, followed by a walk from sophomore
Gavriella Risman-Jones to extend the lead to two.
Berardi held the lead after working around a two-out walk in the third, allowing Stevens to add to its lead in the second half of the inning. Rees started things off with leadoff double to left, and scored when sophomore
Sydney Spitz reached on an error in left.
After a scoreless fourth, Stockton finally broke-through in the fifth when sophomore Nicole Tomo reached on an error at second, and later scored off a throwing error from junior catcher
Jamie DeGennaro. Then after a pair of zeroes in the sixth, Stockton tied the game in the seventh.
After a pair of errors put runners at second and third, an error at third allowed the first run of the inning to score. A hit-by-pitch then loaded the bases where sophomore Gianna Cuffari singled home the tying the run. The Ducks refused to quit though, and leading off the inning, Mulligan homered to left to win the game. The homer was the first of Mulligan's career.
Mulligan led the team with two RBIs, while Berardi struck-out four to earn her 19
th win of the season.
Coming up
Now 3-0 in the ECAC Tournament, Stevens needs just one win to capture a championship. The Ducks will play the winner of Stockton-Elmira College tomorrow at 1 p.m., and either team will need to beat Stevens twice to win the title. Live stats will be available from stevensducks.com.