Staten Island, NY – The Wagner Softball team swept Sacred Heart in a Northeast Conference (NEC) doubleheader Saturday afternoon, defeating the Pioneers 2-1 in the first game and 4-2 in the nightcap.
With the sweep, the Seahawks are now on a four-game win streak and improve to 18-23 overall and 3-7 in conference play while the Pioneers fall to 11-29-2 and 2-8 in the NEC.
Game One Recap: Wagner 2 Sacred Heart 1
It was a battle in the circle between Seahawk sophomore
Morgan Brown (Buckeye, AZ/Verrado) and the Pioneer's Jamie Carlson. Between the two pitchers there were a total of 16 strikeouts.
Brown ended up with the victory, giving up one run on seven hits with seven strikeouts in 6.1 innings pitched while Carlson took the loss, giving up two runs on five hits despite nine strikeouts.
Sacred Heart put up its lone run first in the top half of the fifth inning. Hannah Ford doubled to right center to start things off and was plated on a throwing error by Wagner's first baseman to take the lead.
Wagner answered right back when junior left fielder
Hana Gilbert (Valley Center, CA/Valley Center) belted a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning.
In the bottom half of the sixth inning, the Seahawks freshman right fielder
Lauren Serrato (Litchfield, AZ/Verrado) ignited the Seahawks with a leadoff single and advanced to second base off of a
Maddie Marable (Reno,NV/Earl Wooster) sacrifice bunt. Freshman second baseman
Karen Prihoda (Hamilton Square, NJ/The Lawrenceville School) then doubled to deep left field to score Serrato and extend the Seahawk lead to 2-1.
Prihoda was 3-for-3 with two doubles and one RBI. The other Seahawk hit came from junior centerfielder
Brianna Tredway (Downingtown, PA/Downingtown West) when she singled up the middle in the third inning.
Game Two Recap: Wagner 4 Sacred Heart 2
In game two, the Seahawks launched three home runs to score all of their runs.
Wagner got on the board first when Marable laced a solo homer over the left field fence in the bottom half of the second inning.
The Pioneer's big inning came in the top of the fourth when they posed a threat but were only able to score two runs in a bases loaded, zero outs situation. The inning began with three singles in a row to load the bases when Sacred Heart's Victoira D'Addario singled through the left side to score Hailey Desrosiers and make it 1-0.
That was when junior
McKaleigh Goodale (Bradenton, FL/Lakewood Ranch) took care of business herself and shut down the next two batters, one swinging and one looking.
A walk to Linsey DeDomenico plated Kelyn Fillmore to make it 2-0 Sacred Heart before Ford lined out to Goodale to close out the top half of the inning.
A two-out rally in the bottom of the fifth inning is just what the Seahawks needed to defeat the Pioneers in game two. Serrato recorded her first-ever home run over the right field fence to tie it up before Gilbert stepped up to the plate and laced a single up the middle with two-strikes on her to keep the momentum alive. The next batter, freshman catcher
Jessica Carlucci (Manalapan, NJ/Saint John Vianney) then crushed a ball way over the left center fence to score two and make it a 4-2 game.
Goodale earned win after pitching four innings, giving up two runs on six hits with two strikeouts. Junior
Gina Massaro (Levittown, PA/Conwell-Egan Catholic) was credited with the save after she tossed the final three innings.
Sacred Heart mounted a threat in the top of the seventh with two runners on base and one out. Massaro shut the Pioneer's down however, striking out the final two batters, one looking and the last one swinging to secure the 4-2 victory.
The Seahawks recorded six hits from five different players highlighted by Carlucci, who was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Tredway also had a single in the first inning to lead off the Seahawks.
Wagner steps out of conference play next, traveling to Philadelphia, PA for a twinbill with Drexel University at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 28.
