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Box Score 2 |
Box Score 3 |
Box Score 4 Comebacks and big innings late in the game were a common theme in the first four games of the season for the Muhlenberg softball team.
After getting rained out on their first day in Florida, the Mules defeated Susquehanna, 6-5, and lost to Adrian, 11-3, on their second day. They suffered two more setbacks on the third day, 5-4 to Alvernia and 6-2 to John Carroll.
In the Susquehanna game, Muhlenberg trailed 5-0 before plating four runs in the top of the fourth. Junior Nicole Iannarone led off the inning with a double and eventually came around on a single by sophomore Courtney Simon. Junior Amie DeFeo followed with an RBI double, and freshman Haley Fedak singled in the third run in her second career at-bat.
DeFeo and sophomore Sarah Merlo pulled off a double steal to make it 5-4.
Two innings later, DeFeo and Fedak drew back-to-back walks to lead off the inning. After two outs, they both moved up a base on an illegal pitch. An infield single by senior Alyssa Schell brought in the tying run, and when the ball was thrown away, Fedak came in with the go-ahead run.
Senior Kelsey Jones settled down to retire 11 of the last 12 batters and set the Crusaders, a team two years removed from a 40-win season, down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh to preserve the one-run lead.
The second game was a tight 3-2 affair after five before Adrian pulled away with two in the sixth and six in the seventh. Simon was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI, and freshman Amelia Shelley had two hits in her first career game.
The Mules nearly pulled off another come-from-behind win against defending ECAC South champion Alvernia.
Down 3-1 heading into the top of the sixth, Muhlenberg cut the gap in half on a home run by Fedak. Freshman Hanna Caiola led off the top of the seventh with a double (her first career hit) and scored the tying run on a one-out single by Schell. Later in the inning, Simon was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring in the go-ahead run.
Fedak, making her first career start, retired 13 in a row from the third to the seventh and was one out away from a win before the Crusaders struck with a walk, triple and walkoff single to steal the win.
The Mules trailed John Carroll 5-0 before scoring twice in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single by junior Taylor Trifiolis and a sacrifice fly by Simon.
