The Fairleigh Dickinson University softball team fell to Quinnipiac University in two games on Tuesday, April 26 in Hamden, CT. The Knights fall to 22-21 (6-10 NEC) on the season, while the Bobcats improve to 27-20 (10-6 NEC).
The Knights were first to score in game one with a two-run homerun by freshman Maria Roney (Anacortes, WA/Anacortes) in the top of the first. Roney knocked in Marikka Benson (Lacey, WA/Timberline) who was hit by a pitch just before Roney's at bat.
The Bobcats answered the Knights' runs with one run in the bottom of the second. With two outs the Bobcats singled to left field and tripled to center field to bring the deficit to just one run.
The score remained 2-1 in the Knights' favor through the top of the seventh inning. With two outs in the bottom of the seventh the Bobcats smacked a two-run walk-off homerun to centerfield and took the win, 3-2.
Caitlin Bradac (Garden Grove, CA/Garden Grove) pitched 6.2 innings for the Knights and moves to 10-6 on the season with the loss. She recorded no walks, nine hits and eight strikeouts.
The Knights struck first again in game two, scoring one run in the first, second and third innings.
In the first, Bradac drove home Benson on a single to right field. In the second, Berkleigh Massey (Oceanside, CA/Rancho Buena Vista) hit a double down the right-field line and scored on a wild pitch. In the third inning, the Knights picked up a run on a throwing error by the Bobcats' shortstop.
A string of five hits from the Bobcats in the bottom of the fourth drove home three runs to tie the game.
Quinnipiac scored one run in the fifth after a single through the left side drove home a QU batter who doubled to left center earlier in the inning.
The Bobcats extended their lead to 5-3 in the bottom of the sixth and held FDU scoreless in the seventh to secure the win in game two.
Maire Shaughnessy (Culpeper, Va./Highland) earned the loss in game two after pitching five innings and let up four runs. Shaughnessy allowed nine hits and struck out one batter.
"We had too many missed opportunities in game one," said Head Coach Dale Martin. "We needed to step up and make better defensive plays."
The Knights break from Northeast Conference play this week to play Columbia University in New York, NY. First-pitch in the double-header in slated for Thursday, April 28 at 3:00 pm.
