Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
Brooklyn, NY – The Wagner College softball team earned its first road wins of the season, defeating the Long Island Blackbirds, 3-1 and 6-4 (in nine innings), to pick up two crucial Northeast Conference (NEC) wins.
As both pitcjers, Judy Betz (Ashburn, VA / Broad Run) and LIU's Sarah Reynolds kept their opponents' offenses at bay, the Blackbirds had the game's first scoring chance in the bottom of the third, when Brianna Melero was hit by the first pitch inning, placing her on first base. Melero advanced to second on an illegal pitch by Betz, before moving to third on a fielder's choice by Sterling Hoham. With two outs, Emily Kakuska laced a ball heading through the right side, but Wagner second baseman Brittany Huss (Anthem, AZ / Boulder Creek) made a diving stop and threw Kakuska out from her knees, keeping the game scoreless.
Singles in the top of the fourth inning by Carley Nicoletti (Plainville, NY / C.W. Baker) and Amanda Garcia (Fresno, CA / Cal. State University) gave the Seahawks their first runners in scoring position, but Reynolds got freshman Ashley Rollins (Fairfax, VA / Fairfax) to fly out to right field to end Wagner's at bat.
The Blackbirds got on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning when a leadoff double by Jazmin Rodriguez translated into a run as a Wagner infield error allowed Rodriguez to score from second, giving the home team a 1-0, lead.
The Seahawks tied the game in the top of the sixth inning after Nicoletti, who led off the inning with her second hit of the day, scored on an RBI single by Rollins. Nicoletti's hit capped off her first multi-hit game of the season.
As Betz continued to set down the Blackbird batters, Wagner took the outright lead in the seventh inning with two runs on RBI singles by Nicoletti and Ashley Olsen (Staten Island, NY / Notre Dame Academy).
Betz retired the first three hitters she faced in the bottom of the seventh inning, to seal her seventh win of the year as the Seahawks moved to 7-13 in NEC play. Betz allowed just three hits in the game, while striking out five in her 16th complete game of the year.
Head coach Glen Payne stayed with Betz for game two, as the Seahawks worked against Megan Sheaf for the Blackbirds.
LIU jumped out to an early, 2-0, lead with two runs on four hits in the bottom of the first inning, forcing the Seahawks to come from behind.
The Seahawks battled their way back into the game in the top of the third inning after three straight singles by Kristen Matteoni (Reno, NV / Galena), Nicoletti, and Olsen loaded the bases with no outs. A wild pitch by Sheaf scored Matteoni from third, bringing Wagner to within one before an RBI single by Huss brought home the Seahawks' second run, tying the game 2-2.
The Blackbirds regained the lead in the fourth inning, tallying three hits and scoring two runs on an RBI single by Madison Zymkowski and a Wagner error to take a 4-2, lead.
Two innings later, the Seahawks got back into the game as MacKenzie Alfaro (Riverside, CA / Riverside) notched her first hit of the contest, roping a single to center field with one out in the top of the sixth. Two batters later, senior Hailey Corthell (Reno, NV / Reno) blasted her first home run of the season over the left centerfield fence, tying the game 4-4.
After Sheaf set down the first three Seahawks in the top of the seventh, LIU had a chance to cap off the victory in the bottom half of the inning as the Blackbirds loaded the bases with no outs. Betz and her defense got out of the jam though, getting Amanda MacIntosh to ground into a fielder's choice force at home, before a line out double play to Olsen ended the threat and sent the game into extra innings.
Both teams went scoreless in the eighth inning before the Seahawks put the pressure back on LIU in the top of the ninth. A two-out single by Matteoni put a base runner on for Vanessa Lenart (Fontana, CA / Henry J. Kaiser), who made her first plate appearance since suffering an injury on April 2 in a game against Robert Morris. The junior fouled off four Sheaf pitches before lacing a shot over the left field fence to record her first homer of the year and give the Seahawks the 6-4 lead.
Betz took care of the rest, giving up just one non-threatening hit to cap off the Seahawks' 6-4, comeback win.
Betz earned her third consecutive victory, allowing 11 hits and three earned runs, while striking out a season-best eight batters to get the win.
With the two-game sweep, the Seahawks improve to 10-24 on the year and 9-9 in the NEC, while the two losses move the Blackbirds to 13-29 and 4-6 in the conference.
Wagner will dip back into non-conference action next week when they travel to Saint Peter's for a two-game set beginning at 3:00 p.m.
NOTE: The sweep marked was the first time in Coach Payne's tenure at Wagner that his team has swept Long Island in the regular season.
