EAST STROUDSBURG – The East Stroudsburg University softball team came from behind in both games of the doubleheader to sweep Dominican College on Wednesday afternoon at Creekview Park. The Warriors (3-1) took the first game, 3-2, on a walk-off single and came from behind on three separate occasions in game two to complete the sweep with a 10-8 win.
ESU trailed Dominican, 2-0, after 5 ½ innings and won 3-2 after sophomore Molly Nies drove home the game-winning single in the bottom of the 7th as the Warriors walked off with a 3-2 victory.
In game two, Dominican held leads of 2-0, 7-4 and 8-7, but the Warriors instantly fought back the following half-inning to tie or take the lead. With the game tied at 7-7 after three innings, ESU would permanently take the lead in the bottom of the fifth when freshman Reilly Vicendese sent a two-RBI double over the center fielder's head, as ESU would take game two, 10-8.
Vicendes led ESU offensively with four RBIs on three hits. Two of her three hits when for extra bases, as she also posted a triple. On the base paths, Vicendes went 3-for-3 on stolen base attempts.
Kaitlin Houser notched two RBIs and two doubles. Nies led the Warriors with four hits on the day on eight at bats. Ashley Spencer and Lexi Wright each tallied three hits and an RBI.
Both ESU relievers earned wins on the day. Marah Range (1-0) pitched four shutout innings, allowing just two hits and struck out five. She held the Chargers to hit just .143 against her.
Leigh Ann Jenkins (2-0) entered the game in the second inning of the second game and allowed just one earned run and four hits in five innings of work. She struck out four in her second victory in three days.
GAME ONE
Dominican started the doubleheader strong, by tallying a run in the opening inning. After the Chargers advanced two runners into scoring position on a wild pitch, a groundout to the ESU shortstop allowed the first run of the game to cross the plate.
The Warriors threatened to score in the bottom of the second, as Spencer doubled and stole third base. A strikeout looking would happen next, as ESU could not capitalize with two outs.
Dominican added to its lead in the third stanza, as an RBI double from DC's Hailey Redmond Ridge would extend the Charger lead to 2-0.
Range took over mound duties in the fourth frame from MicKayla Grow. Despite walking a pair of Chargers, she settled down to strikeout the final batter in the top of the fourth to strand two runners in scoring position.
ESU's bats remained silent until the sixth inning, as Rachel Seiverd opened the frame with a single. Rachel Arner took over for Seiverd on first base and immediately stole second. Vicendese came up with a clutch triple to push across the Warriors' first run of the series across the plate.
Range stranded a single runner on second in the visitor's half of the seventh, as the Warriors faced a one-run deficit heading into the bottom of the seventh.
Spencer started the rally with a one-out single. An error from the shortstop would advance pinch-runner Addison Roche into scoring position and the potential game-winning run on first in Sofia Cecchin. After a flyout, DC stood just a single out away from earning a win.
Seiverd walked to load the bases and Wright followed with another bases on balls to knot the game at 2-2.
Nies came up clutch with the game-winning single to right field to score Cecchin, as ESU walked off of Creekview Park victors for the second consecutive game.
Dominican College's Krya Wiens (0-1), who was making her collegiate debut, allowed just one earned run on five hits. She retired 11 consecutive Warriors at one point and struck out six. She threw the complete game for the Chargers in an impressive effort.
GAME TWO
The low-scoring defensive battle in game one quickly turned chaotic in game two.
DC struck for a pair of runs in the first inning on one hit and took advantage of four walks.
In the Warriors' first at bats in game two, they instantly struck back. Nies, the hero in game one just moments earlier, smacked a triple to right field. Vicendese would send Nies home on a groundout. Houser doubled a pair of runs home later on in the inning, and Spencer followed with a two-bagger herself, as ESU quickly grabbed a 4-2 advantage after one frame.
DC would score five runs in its half of the second inning, on three hits and two ESU errors. Leigh Ann Jenkins entered the game in relief with no outs in the frame.
Once again, as the Chargers threw a punch, the Warriors responded. ESU tied the contest up at 7-7 on four hits and took advantage of two Dominican College errors. Morgan Walsh sent home Vicendese with two outs in the inning on a single to center field to tie the game at 7-7.
DC responded with a single run in the visitor's half of the 3rd on an RBI single to take an 8-7 lead.
For the final time, ESU immediately tied the game up at 8-8, as Nies drove in Wright with one out. Vicendese showed off her speed in the inning, reaching base on a fielder's choice and went on to steal second and third base. She was unable to cross the plate in the frame.
The game quickly quieted down until the bottom of the fifth, when Sofia Cecchin started a rally with a one-out single. Both Cecchin and Wright would advance to third and second, respectively with two outs in the inning. Vicendese sent a go-ahead runs home on a double to center field as the Warriors grabbed a 10-8 advantage on the scoreboard.
Jenkins allowed a double to open the sixth. She would escape the inning unscathed. She finished the job in the seventh, retiring the side in order to earn her second win of the season.
The Warriors open PSAC East play on Friday, when ESU hosts Shippensburg for a doubleheader. First pitch of game one at Vigon International Field is set for 1:00 p.m. ESU will then head to Shippensburg on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. for two games.
