Teaneck, NJ - The Wagner College softball team combined for five home runs on the day, including two by junior
Natalie Del Ponte, as the Seahawks earned a split against Fairleigh Dickinson on Friday afternoon.
The Seahawks won game one in nine innings by a score of 5-4, before falling 11-9 in the second game of the doubleheader.
Del Ponte finished her outstanding afternoon with two home runs and six RBIs on four hits. As a team, the Seahawks hit a season-high three home runs in the second game of the afternoon.
The series between Wagner and FDU continues tomorrow, with first pitch set for 1:00 pm. Both games will air on NECFrontRow.
Game 1 Recap: Wagner 5-4 FDU
Knotted up at 4-4 after seven innings, the Seahawks broke through in the ninth inning, as Del Ponte delivered the game-winning RBI with a double to right field that scored junior
Nora Conway.
Down 2-0 after four innings of play, consecutive triples by graduate student
Zoe Bender and freshman
Keaghan Ward got the Seahawks on the board.
In the sixth inning, a two-run shot by senior
Alexis Silinonte gave Wagner its first lead of the day at 3-2. In the seventh, Del Ponte doubled the Seahawks' lead with an inside the park home run, but the Knights fought back in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings.
After a scoreless eighth inning, Del Ponte and the Seahawk offense delivered in the ninth, and junior
Eve Harvey shut the door in the bottom half of the inning to earn the victory.
In the circle, Harvey struck out a career-high 11 batters on her way to the complete game victory to move to 6-7 on the season.
The Seahawks led 10-9 in the hit column, with eight different players recording at least one hit.
Game 2 Recap: FDU 11-9 Wagner
In a wild contest that featured 20 runs on 23 hits, the Seahawks used the long ball to set a new season-high for runs in a Northeast Conference (NEC) game.
Trailing 1-0 after the first inning, Ward tied the game in the bottom half of the first by scoring on a wild pitch.
The Knights took a 6-1 lead in the second, but Wagner answered immediately in the top half of the third inning.
Base hits by Conway, sophomore
Bianca Worthy, and graduate student
Amelia Van Orman loaded the bases for Del Ponte, who made it a one-run game with one swing of the bat, as her grand slam to center field made it a 6-5 game.
The Seahawk offense struck again one inning later, as junior Mackenzie Miller tied the game at 6-6 with a leadoff home run to left.
In the fifth, base hits by Del Ponte and Ward put two runners on for junior
Makenzie Miller, who gave the Seahawks the 9-6 lead with her first home run of the season.
The Knights scored five runs in the sixth to earn the victory. In the circle, Van Orman was charged with the loss.
Del Ponte, Van Orman, Miller, and Silinonte all had two hits apiece for the Seahawks.
