STROUDSBURG -- Trailing entering the bottom of the 7th inning in the season opener, the East Stroudsburg University softball team walked off victors with a 3-2 win and defeated Saint Rose, 8-0, in game two to begin the 2022 season unscathed on Monday afternoon at Vigon International Field.
In the season-opening doubleheader for both teams, the Warriors (2-0) look to build off momentum from the sucessful 2021 season, while the Golden Knights drop to 0-2.
In the circle, a pair of newcomers in Lock Haven transfer Paige Zigmund and freshman Katie Zaun earned wins in their first starts as Warriors. The duo combined to hold Saint Rose to 11 hits and struck out eight in 11 combined innings. Leigh Ann Jenkins came in relief for an inning in game two.
Notables
- On the day, Zigmund, Zaun and Jenkins posted a 1.75 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP, striking out 14 batters and held the Golden Knights to a .250 batting average.
- Freshman Brooke McKeown, the ESU leadoff hitter for both games, led the Warriors with four hits and three RBIs. McKeown smashed a clutch triple in the seventh inning of game one and ended game two with a two-RBI single to center field. The center fielder also scored and swiped two bags in her Warrior debut.
- Denva Shaw-Tait, who missed the 2021 season, had an RBI single in game one. She did not disappoint in her first collegiate doubleheader in 713 days, producing a pair of sacrifice flys in the second contest.
- Senior Sofia Cecchin, junior Giana Coyle and sophomore Reilly Vicendese all tallied multiple hits and one RBI. Freshman Abigail Weirich and senior Ashley Spencer also plated a run.
- Coyle supplied the walk-off RBI in the bottom of the 7th in game one.
- ESU, who finished second in NCAA Division II in stolen bases a season ago went 12-of-13 on stolen base opportunities. Cecchin led the way with four.
How it Happened: Game One
- After Zigmund allowed a single on the first batter she faced as a Warrior, the Bethlehem native settled down and did not allow a hit the rest of the inning. The Warriors stranded two runners on base.
- After a second and third scoreless inning from Zigmund, ESU would score its first run of the season in the bottom of the 3rd, as an error by the Saint Rose shortstop would score Weirich.
- The Golden Knights evened the game the next half inning, as an RBI double to left by Alysa Houghtailing scored tied the contest at 1-1. After a Warrior error put an additional runner on base, Zigmund retired three consecutive batters and stranded a runner on third base with back-to-back strikeouts.
- ESU threatened in the fourth with runners on second and third, but could not convert. Zigmund faced the minimum in the fifth, as a single turned into a caught stealing by Rachel Seiverd.
- The Warriors retook the lead in the bottom of the 5th, as Shaw Tait drove in Cecchin a single through the left side.
- The Golden Knights did not go away easy, as a two-out RBI single knotted the score at 2-2.
- Saint Rose grabbed its first lead of the series in the top of the 7th. A leadoff double followed by a two-out single up the middle by Morgan Tyrell gave the Golden Knights a 3-2 lead.
- ESU, who came-from-behind to win many times a season ago, did so once again in the season opener. A leadoff triple from McKeown put the Warriors in business. Cecchin plated the game-tying RBI with a single down the line. A Vicendese single and a double steal put two runners in scoring position. After Shaw-Tait walked, Coyle entered the game as a pinch hitter and supplied the walk off victory with a sacrifice fly to left to score Cecchin.
How it Happened: Game One
- The contest went scoreless through the first two frames, as Zaun impressed in her collegiate debut. The 2021 Morning Call Player of the Year did not allow a baserunner the first round through the Golden Knight lineup. ESU had runners on base in both innings, but ESU could not come through.
- Coyle led the bottom of the 3rd inning with a double, as McKeown came up clutch again with a single up the middle. After stealing second, McKeown a native of Havertown, stole second and eventually advanced to third after a Cecchin walk and a wild pitch. A pair of sacrifice flys from Vicendese and Shaw-Tait lifted ESU to a 3-0 advantage through three innings.
- Zaun allowed three singles to begin the fourth inning, but ESU escaped without allowing a run. A Zaun strikeout followed by a double play which saw Cecchin catch a flyout and fired a solid throw home to take a possible run off the board.
- ESU could not add to its lead in the home half of the fourth, despite getting runners in scoring position via a Coyle single and a Lexi Wright walk.
- Jenkins entered the game in the top of the 5th and looked to be in midseason form in her first action this season. She struckout the first two batters she faced and forced a foul-out to first base.
- Up three runs, ESU ended the game in the bottom 5th with three runs on five hits. Shaw-Tait provided an sacrifice fly for her third RBI on the day. Spencer tallied an RBI via a bunt on a fielder's choice. Vicendese raced home and avoided a tag on the play. Weirich followed suit with an RBI single to score Spencer. An error by the shortstop loaded the bases, as McKeown came in clutch once again with a two-RBI single to end the game at the 8-0 mercy rule.
Up Next
- ESU returns to Creekview Park on Wednesday, as the Warriors host St. Thomas Aquinas.
- The doubleheader is set to begin at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. against the Spartans.
