AMHERST, Mass. – The Faireligh Dickinson softball team stepped out of conference for a midweek doubleheader at UMass and earned a split on Wednesday afternoon. The Knights bounced back in game one of the twin bill and got the win after getting swept by Saint Francis U on Monday afternoon.
Game 1 – Fairleigh Dickinson 4, UMass 3
Reanna Cervantes lead off with a solo home run for the second game in a row and the Knights survived a late-inning rally from Massachusetts to earn the one-run win.
Cervantes homered to right-center to give the Knights the early 1-0 lead. It was the sophomore's second of the season.
Fairleigh Dickinson (2-16) doubled its lead in the second inning when
Serena Meehan drove in
Kassidy Neptune with a single up the middle. Neptune led off the inning with a double left center.
Erica Johnson (2-4), who started for the Knights, allowed only two base runners over first three innings. Massachusetts (12-16) then cut the 2-0 lead in half when Nicole Imhof doubled to score Kaycee Carbone.
In the sixth the Knights would add on two more runs, which would become the winning run.
Madison Emerson knocked in her fourth RBI of the season when Cervantes scored on a single. Neptune then came up with two outs and doubled to center, which scored Meehan, who pinch ran for Emerson, to make it a 4-1 ball game.
Baylee Ports, who came on to start the sixth, pitched two innings to earn her first save of the season and second of her career, but it was not easy.
UMass got the first two batters on before Erin Stacevicz flied to center. The runners advanced to second and third on a groundout. Kaitlyn Stavinoha then singled two score both runners was cut down on the bases to end the game.
Johnson pitched five innings and allowed one run and struck out a pair. Ports pitched the final two. Quinn Breidenbach (0-1) went five and two-thirds for Massachuetts and took the loss.
Game 2 – UMass 5, Fairleigh Dickinson 1
Massachusetts (13-16) scored single runs in the first and second innings, which was enough for Meg Colleran, to split the doubleheader with Fairleigh Dickinson (3-17).
Erin Stacevicz walked to lead-off the game and came around to score the first run of the game on a Melissa Garcia single. Kate Denis started the second inning with a double to lead off. Denis also came around to score on a Candace Denis hit a sacrifice fly to left.
Massachusetts finished its scoring in the fourth with three unearned runs. Two of the runs came against
Madison Emerson, who started for Fairleigh Dickinson, and one against
Irene Herrera.
The Knights got on the board in the top of the sixth.
Francine Villalobos worked a two-out walk. Emerson followed with a single to move Villalobos to second. The next batter,
Kellie Natham, singled down the left field line to bring home Villalobos.
Emerson went three and a third innings and allowed five runs, but only two earned. Herrera pitched two and two-thirds and allowed only one hit.
Colleran pitched a complete game to pick up her seventh win. Colleran scattered four hits and struck out eight Knights.
Fairleigh Dickinson returns to action this weekend for a pair of Northeast Conference doubleheaders. Saturday will see the Knights travel to Wagner for two, and Sunday marks a road doubleheader at Mount St. Mary's for Fairleigh Dickinson.
