STROUDSBURG – Strong performances from both pitchers and the hitters lifted the East Stroudsburg University softball team to a pair of 9-7 wins over Southern New Hampshire on Sunday afternoon at Creekview Park's Vigon International Field.
With the wins, the Warriors (9-7) have now won seven of their past eight games. The Penmen (3-6) have now fallen in five consecutive contests.
Notables
- At the plate, ESU was led by Reilly Vicendese's five hits (5-6, 2 runs 2-2 SB), including a pair of doubles and three RBIs. Also tallying three runs batted in were Denva Shaw-Tait (2B, 2 1B, 2 runs) and Abby Weirich (3 1B, 3 runs, 3-3 SB) also contributed three RBIs.
- Molly Niese belted four hits (1 2B) and scored three runs. Brooke McKeown totaled a pair of singles, drove in a run and scored a pair herself. Shannon Edleman and Lexi Wright also contributed an RBI on the day.
- ESU's pitching staff on the day held SNHU to hit just .226, combining for 13 strikeouts and did not walk a single batter. Only two of the Penmen's 12 hits went for extra-bases, with a pair of doubles.
- Paige Zigmund (4-2) impressed again in the circle, tossing a complete game victory by allowing just five hits, two earned runs and did not walk a batter. She totaled 11 strikeouts, holding the Penmen to a .200 batting average in game one.
- Maddy Pritchard and Leigh Ann Jenkins (2-1) followed with strong performances in game two. Pritchard scattered five hit sin four innings, allowing just one earned run (two total), while striking out a pair of Penmen. Jenkins followed for the final three innings and earned her second win by conceding just two hits.
How It Happened – ESU 7, SNHU 2
- In the top of the 1st, Southern New Hampshire's Bella Dickinson singled to left field and advanced to second on a wild pitch, setting up Shannon Gifford with a double to left to drive home Dickinson for the first run of the day.
- ESU responded with three runs in the bottom of the second inning on two hits. Weirich (single), Shaw-Tait (walk) reached base to open the inning and followed with a double steal put runners on first and second. A wild pitch allowed Weirich to score and advanced Shaw-Tait to third base. Kaitlin Houser followed with a walk and stole second base. After a popout, Wright singled home Shaw-Tait and McKeown followed with a sac fly to score Houser.
- In its next at bats in the bottom of the 3rd, Vicendese singled to open the half-inning. After stealing second, she advanced to third base on a groundout. Weirich was able to score Vicendese on a groundout, as the Warriors grabbed a 4-1 edge on the scoreboard.
- ESU padded its lead with three runs on three hits and got help with an error. The Warriors scored runs on a Vicendese sacrifice fly and singles from Weirich and Shaw-Tait.
- Needing six runs to tie the game in the top of the 7th, SNHU had its second run cross the plate on a wild pitch to make it a 7-2 contest. Zigmund earned the final two outs via strikeouts to pick up her fourth win of the season.
How It Happened – ESU 7, SNHU 2
- The Warrior kept momentum early in the latter half of the doubleheader, with Pritchard sitting the Penmen down in order to open game two. ESU took control in its first at bats, tallying five runs on five hits and took advantage of a pair of SNHU errors. In the frame, Vicendese opened the scoring with an RBI double, while Shaw-Tait followed with a two-RBI single. Edelman sent an RBI single to right to score Weirich to give ESU a 4-0 edge. The scoring ended in the first with Shaw-Tait scoring on a throwing error by the catcher, with the Warriors leading 5-0 after just one inning.
- Southern New Hampshire was able to put a run on the board in the top of the 2ns, with an RBI double by Gianna DiMauro. The Penmen added its second and final run of the day with an RBI single by Ari Ferrier in the fourth.
- Up three runs after 3.5 innings, ESU added a pair of insurance runs with RBI singles from Vicendese and Weirich, taking a 7-2 advantage.
- Jenkins picked up where Zigmund and Prichard left off, stranding a pair of runners in the sixth and seventh to pick up her second win and preserve the sweep over the Penmen.
Up Next
- ESU (9-7) is back at Creekview Park on Wed., March 15 at 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. against Chestnut Hill (0-14).
