WAYNE, N.J. – The University of Scranton softball team (11-3) used late inning heroics in game one and built an early lead in game two to sweep a doubleheader from the William Paterson Pioneers (0-12) on Tuesday afternoon at Pioneer Softball Field in Wayne.
Scranton took game one by a score of 4-3 and then completed the sweep with an 8-5 victory in the nightcap.
Scranton 4, William Paterson 3
Senior Bailee Hendricks (Norristown, Pa./Norristown Area) delivered a go-ahead RBI single in the top of the seventh and the Royals won game one 4-3.
In the top of the seventh, fellow senior Sarah Stepnowski (Monroe Twp., N.J./Monroe) reached with a two-out double and scored on Hendricks' clutch single that gave Scranton the lead.
Lilah Guthy was dealt the loss for William Paterson after allowing four runs on nine hits to go along with two walks and three strikeouts in 7.0 IP.
Sophomore Samantha Shaw (Pennington, N.J./Hopewell Valley Central) struck out a pair over three shutout innings of relief and earned the win for the Royals.
The Royals quickly took an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first as junior Alyssa Mosconi (Oakland, N.J./Indian Hills) plated a run with an RBI double and Hendricks followed with an RBI double of her own to plate Mosconi.
The Pioneers battled back with three runs in the second and held a one-run lead over the next three innings.
Sophomore Carley Noble (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) got the start for Scranton and was charged with three runs on six hits over four innings of work in a no-decision.
Stepnowski got on base with a one-out single in the fifth and scored on Mosconi's RBI triple to tie the game at three apiece.
Hendricks (2-4, 2B, 2 RBI), Mosconi (2-3, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI, R) and Stepnowski (2-4, 2 R) all tallied multi-hit games for the Royals.
Scranton 8, William Paterson 5
The Royals took the lead for good in the fourth inning and never looked back in the 8-5 win to finish the sweep of the doubleheader.
Sophomore Julia Vesey (Eastchester, N.Y./Eastchester) delivered an RBI single to break a two-all deadlock at the time and came around to score on freshman Lainey Lacey's (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin) RBI single which extended the lead to 4-2.
Kylie Anthony was charged with the loss for the Pioneers as she gave up four runs (three earned) on five hits while walking two over 3 2/3 IP.
Freshman Juliana Janezic (Southington, Conn./Cheshire Academy) got the win for Scranton after allowing five runs on 15 hits to go along with four strikeouts in a complete game effort. The victory is Janezic's fifth of the season.
Hendricks plated the first run of the game with an RBI single in the first inning and Stepnowski added an RBI groundout in the third for a 2-0 lead. William Paterson got both runs back in the home half of the third inning to even things at two.
After the afore-mentioned fourth inning, freshman Alexa Bruno (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) knocked in a run with a sac fly to score Mosconi and extend the lead to 5-2.
The Royals broke the game open with three in the seventh as Mosconi and Hendricks delivered consecutive RBI doubles and Vesey added a sac fly of her own which opened up an 8-3 advantage.
William Paterson was able to score a pair in the home half and loaded the bases with two away, but Janezic got a strikeout to end it.
Hendricks (2-2, 2B, 2 RBI, R) and junior Kylie Rochford (Tinton Falls, N.J./Red Bank Catholic) who matched her career-high with three hits led the charge offensively for head coach Caitlyn Seamster's team.
Scranton will open Landmark Conference play on Thursday afternoon at Catholic with first pitch of game one slated for 1 p.m.
