STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The Wagner softball team split their doubleheader against CCSU on Friday, finishing on either side of a 1-0 score in each game.
The first contest was a defensive showing, with neither team recording a hit until the fourth inning. Senior shortstop
Payton Janicki collected the first hit for the Seahawks in the bottom of the fourth with a well-struck double into the left-center field gap, but she would be stranded to end the frame.
CCSU came close to breaking the ice in the top of the fifth, when a couple of hits and a fielder's choice put runners on the corners with two outs. But junior starting pitcher
Karson Zavala was able to get out of the jam with a ground out to first, keeping the game scoreless.
The Seahawks broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the sixth, when sophomore right fielder
Taylor Reynolds pulled a two-out base hit through the left side. Senior first baseman
Geanice Morales scored from second, and the Seahawks took a 1-0 lead. Zavala set down the Blue Devils in order in the top of the seventh, as she finished her second complete-game shutout in three games, and secured the win in the first game of the twin bill.
After each team failed to record a hit through three innings in the first game, both teams combined for five hits in the first inning of game two. Wagner collected three straight singles to load the bases with one out in the bottom of the first, but it could not bring the runners around to score, leaving the game scoreless after one.
Freshman starting pitcher
Samantha Lotus dealt throughout the game, striking out a pair and only allowing one walk and no runs through the first six innings of the contest. But the CCSU starting pitcher matched Lotus in that same span, and with two outs in the top of the seventh, the Blue Devils hit a solo home run to take a 1-0 lead. Wagner went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning, and each team finished the day with a 1-0 victory apiece.
The Seahawks will return to the diamond on Saturday, April 4, when they will play the rubber game of this three-game series. First pitch is set for 12 p.m.
