Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score

New Haven, CT – The Wagner College softball team extended its win streak to four games, as the Seahawks swept the Ivy League's Yale University, 6-0 and 4-3, in a non-conference two-game series. The two wins move the Green & White to 14-26 on the year, while the Bulldogs drop their 10^th straight, falling to 7-23.

Game one had all signs of a pitcher's duel, as Wagner freshman Samantha Bedker (Phoenix, AZ / Sandra Day O'Connor) and Yale's sophomore Chelsey Dunham came out firing, each allowing unthreatening hits and getting help from their fellow fielders to keep the game a stalemate.

The game went scoreless until the top of the fourth inning when freshman Kelsey Parker (Lynnwood, WA / Lynnwood) got the scoring started on a roped a one-out double off the left centerfield fence, recording her team-high 12^th two-bag hit of the season. Parker would score two batters later when sophomore MacKenzie Alfaro (Riverside, CA / Riverside) followed Parker's lead, lining a double of her own down the right field line to post her 13^th RBI of the year.

Junior Brittany Huss (Anthem, AZ / Boulder Creek), who got on base on a walk, scored the Seahawks second run of the fourth inning, crossing the plate on a RBI by freshman Jessica Albarran (Corona, CA / Eleanor Roosevelt). Alfaro, who was one base behind Huss, scored herself after senior Ashley Olsen (Staten Island, NY / Notre Dame Academy) drove her home on an RBI single to centerfield putting Wagner up 3-0 half way through game one.

Wagner added another mark to the scoreboard in the top of the fifth inning after sophomore Taylor Rauscher (Peoria, AZ / Sunrise Mountain) earned a two-out walk. Parker extended her RBI streak to four games, bringing Rauscher across the plate on an outfield single, widening the Seahawks lead to 4-0.

Bedker continued to work through the Bulldogs lineup from the circle, throwing six full innings, allowing just four hits and striking out three, heading into the seventh inning still up 4-0.

The Seahawks tacked on two more runs in the top half of the seventh when sophomore Kristen Matteoni (Galena, NV / Reno) blasted a one-out double off the right centerfield fence, and scored two batters later on Parker's team-high fifth homerun of the season. Parker's rocket shot over the left centerfield wall put the Green & White up 6-0, moving to the bottom of the seventh.

Wagner's steady right-hander took the mound to try to wrap up her first collegiate complete game shutout, and did just that, retiring the Bulldogs seventh-inning hitters on just five pitches to seal the game one victory 6-0.

GAME TWO

The Bulldogs came out swinging to start the second game, picking up three runs on two hits off Wagner pitcher Ashley Rollins (Fairfax, VA / Fairfax), to end the first inning with Yale up 3-1.

Wagner fought right back in the top of the second inning, putting pressure on Yale's freshman pitcher Kylie Williamson, loading the bases on a walk and back-to-back singles by Olsen and Beth Lewis (Ashburn, VA / Stone Bridge). The lengthy left-hander worked herself to a manageable two-out, bases loaded situation before freshman Cara Donovan (Centreville, VA / Centreville) earned a base on balls, scoring Olsen from third. Williamson got Parker to line out to third base to end any other potential Wagner runs in the second frame, keeping her squad up 3-1.

Williamson's duties would end in the top of the third inning after two singles and two hit batsmen transitioned into Wagner's second run of the game, as Vanessa Lenart (Fontana, CA / Henry J. Kaiser HS) got plunked, scoring Alfaro and making it a one-run game. Yale's Kristen Leung came in for relief of Williamson to close out the inning with her team up 3-2.

Wagner head coach Glen Payne made a pitching change of his own to start the bottom of the third, bringing in freshman Olivia Zwick (Surrey, Canada / Earl Marriot) to try and halt the Bulldogs offense. Yale's hitters weren't fazed by the substitution though, picking up back-to-back leadoff singles to give the Bulldogs some early-inning action on the base paths. Zwick settled down after the two hits, putting down the next three hitters to keep Wagner within one moving into the fourth inning.

Each team went scoreless in the fourth, before Albarran opened up the top of the fifth inning with a leadoff double to right center. The next batter, Olsen, gave the Seahawks their first lead of the game, taking Leung's first pitch deep over the right field fence for her third homerun of the year, and second in as many days, putting Wagner up 4-3.

To start the bottom of the sixth inning, Payne elected to replace Zwick with Judy Betz (Ashburn, VA / Broad Run), giving the junior righty some action in the series against the Ivy League opponent. Zwick left the game after throwing three full innings, giving up three hits and no runs, while striking out two. Betz wasted no time getting herself acclimated with the game, retiring the first three batters she faced to send the game into the seventh inning.

Wagner picked up a couple of insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning, taking advantage of a one-out walk by Lewis and a single by Lenart, as Matteoni recorded her ninth double of the year, scoring two and putting the Seahawks up 6-3.

Betz closed out the bottom of the seventh much like she did when she entered the game, setting down the only three batters she faced to cap off the three-run win, and pick up her second save of the year. Zwick was credited with the win, as she moves to 4-8 on the year for the Seahawks.

After picking up four non-conference wins in two days, the Seahawks will have a couple of days off from competition before hitting the road to take on Quinnipiac and Central Connecticut State in key Northeast Conference doubleheaders. Wagner's first series against the Bobcats is set for a 1:00 p.m. start on Saturday, April 14.