Box Score (MCLA) | Box Score (Dallas)

CLERMONT, Fla. - The University of Scranton softball team split the final two games of their Spring Break trip to Florida on Thursday, blowing out MCLA, 15-1, in five innings in their first game, before falling in extra innings to Dallas, 9-7, in their final game of the week.

With the spilt, Scranton is now 5-4 on the year.

In their first game of the day on Thursday against MCLA, Scranton opened an insurmountable 7-0 lead in the top of the third inning and never looked back, as junior pitcher Morgan Rentzheimer (Laurys Station, Pa./Parkland) didn't allow a hit in the contest until the fifth inning.

Overall, freshman Megan Zinn (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) had a big game in the lead-off spot, going 3-for-4 with a double, two RBI and two runs scored.

Rentzheimer also helped out her cause at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored, as well, while senior Marisa Ciriello (Hicksville, N.Y./Hicksville) was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI.

In the pitching circle, Rentzheimer went to 4-2 on the year with a dominating performance, in which she retired 13 batters in a row before giving up a single with one out in the bottom of the fifth. Overall, she struck out seven batters in the win.

In their second game against Dallas, Scranton had a comeback bid thwarted in extra innings, as Dallas broke a 6-6 tie in the top of the eighth with three runs. 

Early in the contest, Dallas was able to open a 6-2 lead on the Royals in the top of the third, before Scranton plated pairs of runs in both the bottom of that inning and the bottom of the fifth. In the fifth, Zinn was able to tie the game in the fifth inning with a two-RBI single with two outs.

After both teams failed to score over the sixth and seventh innings, the game went to extras, where Dallas quickly scored three runs in the top of the eighth to go up 9-6.

Scranton, however, answered, as senior Shannon Stricker (Morrisville, Pa./Conwell-Egan) knocked home sophomore Molly Hampsey (Tunkhannock, Pa./Tunkhannock) on a lead-off RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to cut the Dallas lead down to two.

After a fielders choice put another run on base, Scranton sent the game-winning run to the plate three straight times. But, each time, a Royal batter committed an out, as Dallas was able to take the two-run win in eight innings.

Overall, Stricker was 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored in the defeat, while fellow senior Kaitlin O'Sullivan (Bensalem, Pa./Nazareth Academy) was also 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.

Freshman Casey DeSarno (Wall Township, Pa./Wall) was 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored to round out the top performers on offense for Scranton in the defeat.

In the circle, freshman relief pitcher Caitlin Long (Ho Ho Kus, N.J./Northwern Highlands Regional) was credited with the defeat (0-1), despite allowing one earned run over six innings of work.

The University of Scranton softball team is slated to return to action on Wednesday at King's. The non-conference doubleheader is slated to begin at 3 p.m.

--ROYALS--