Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score

Staten Island, NY – After dropping their first game of the day, 6-2, the Wagner College softball team fought back against a powerful Sacred Heart squad to shut out the Pioneers, 5-0, in the nightcap of today's Northeast Conference doubleheader.

With the split, the Seahawks move to 9-21 on the year, and remain at .500 in the NEC with a 3-3 mark. Sacred Heart also stays at .500 in the league, moving to 4-4, and 11-19 overall.

Wagner began the game in a hole, as the Pioneers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, taking the Seahawks freshman pitcher Samantha Bedker (Phoenix, AZ / Sandra Day O'Connor) for three runs on just two hits. Bedker settled down after the opening frame though, not allowing another Sacred Heart hit until the fourth inning, when again the visitors added one mark to the scoreboard, extending their lead to 4-0.

The Seahawks struck back in the bottom of the fifth when Kelsey Parker (Lynnwood, WA / Lynnwood) continued her stellar freshman campaign, lacing a two-run single to centerfield, scoring sophomore transfer Hayley Sullivan (Bakersfield, CA / North) and fellow freshman Cara Donovan (Centreville, VA / Centreville) to cut Wagner's deficit in half.

Sacred Heart's Justine Sibthorp put her squad back up by four when she hit a two-run shot over the left centerfield wall. The Pioneer's hurler, Nicole Sidor, sealed the win in the circle, keeping the Green & White off the scoreboard in the final innings, and giving Wagner it's third straight loss.

Freshman Olivia Zwick (Surrey, Canada / Earl Marriot) got the start for the Seahawks in the second game of the day's doubleheader, allowing just one hit and one walk in her first defensive inning.

After each team traded scoreless innings to start, Parker gave the Green & White the lead in the bottom of the third. The first-year shortstop blasted her third homerun of the year deep over the left centerfield wall, also scoring junior Carley Nicoletti (Plainville, NY / C.W. Baker) who reached base on her seventh hit of the season, putting Wagner up 2-0.

Wagner added one more in the bottom of the fourth inning when freshman Jessica Albarran (Corona, CA / Eleanor Roosevelt) led off the frame with a rope single to centerfield, and advanced to second on an outfield error. Senior Ashley Olsen (Staten Island, NY / Notre Dame Academy) moved Albarran's pinch runner, Taylor Rauscher (Peoria, AZ / Sunrise Mountain), to third base on hit to left field, putting two runners on with no outs. Sullivan recorded her second RBI of the year, laying down a perfectly placed suicide, scoring Rauscher and giving Wagner the 3-0 lead.

As Zwick continued to fire away in the circle, the Seahawks bats stayed red hot, posting two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning on an Albarran two-run blast, that scored junior Brittany Huss (Anthem, AZ / Boulder Creek), extending Wagner's lead to 5-0.

The hard-throwing Canadian shutdown the Pioneers bats in the final innings, capping off an impressive two-hit complete game where she struck out five and walked just three, improving to 3-6 on the year.

Wagner will be back in action this Wednesday, when the Seahawks travel to Easton, PA, for a non-conference doubleheader against the Leopards of Lafayette. First pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

NOTE: Parker's lone hit in the bottom of the third inning extended her hit streak to 16 games, as she is now batting .318 on the year.