SCRANTON, Pa. – The University of Scranton softball team (13-3) scored 16 runs in two games and sophomore Soleil Dooner (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks East) gave up just one run across a total of 7.0 IP as the Royals swept a doubleheader from the King's College Monarchs (10-10) on Monday afternoon at Magis Field in Scranton.
The Royals notched a 9-3 victory in game one and then finished the sweep with a 7-1 win in the nightcap.
Scranton 9, King's 3
Six different players tallied multi-hit games and Scranton broke the game open with a four-run second inning as they cruised to the 9-3 win.
Each team scored a run in the first inning before the Royals used the four-run second to take the lead for good. Freshman Celia Totaro (Flemington, N.J./Hunterdon Central) delivered a go-ahead two-run double and senior Sarah Stepnowski (Monroe Twp., N.J./Monroe) followed with an RBI triple of her own before scoring on junior Alyssa Mosconi's (Oakland, N.J./Indian Hills) RBI single to make it a 5-1 game.
Stepnowski added a two-run single as part of a three-run third inning that extended the lead to 8-1.
Maura Furst was dealt the loss for King's after giving up seven runs (six earned) on seven hits to go along with a walk and a strikeout in 2 2/3 IP.
Junior Emma Tirollo (Orange, Conn./Amity Regional) allowed two hits and struck out a pair over two scoreless frames to record the win for the Royals, while Dooner added two shutout innings of her own in the victory.
King's got two runs back in the top of the fourth to trim the deficit to 8-3, but were unable to get any closer.
Sophomore Samantha Shaw got the start in the circle for Scranton and allowed three runs on three hits while walking three in three plus innings.
Fellow sophomore Keira Corrigan (Rockville Centre, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) added an RBI single in the sixth inning to complete the scoring.
Corrigan recorded a career-high three hits in the victory and Totaro added three hits, two RBI and two runs scored to lead the way offensively. Stepnowski drove in three runs in the game and leads the Landmark Conference with 25 RBI on the season.
Scranton 7, King's 1
Dooner gave up just one run on three hits and fanned a career-high eight over five strong innings as the Royals completed the sweep of the doubleheader.
Her eight strikeouts surpassed her previous career-best of five and and were the most by a Scranton pitcher since Jennifer Sweeney fanned nine in a win over Elizabethtown on Mar. 20, 2022.
Senior Courtney Wellet (Glen Gardner, N.J./Voorhees) struck out a career-best four batters of her own over two shutout innings of relief to preserve the victory.
King's got on the board with a run in the top of the first, but the Royals plated a pair in the second to take the lead as sophomores Emmie Feltenberger (Pottstown, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) and Julia Vesey (Eastchester, N.Y./Eastchester) each picked up an RBI in the inning.
A four-run fourth inning helped Scranton extend the lead as junior Hannah Keane (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) hit a solo shot for her first home run of the season and the trio of Rochford, Stepnowski and Totaro all plated runs in the frame to make it a 6-1 game.
Stepnowski added an RBI triple in the sixth as the Royals extended their winning streak to five games.
Keane (2-3, HR, RBI, SB, R), Stepnowski (2-4, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI) and Totaro (3-4, 2B, RBI, 2 R) all tallied multi-hit games in the victory.
The Royals will open Landmark Conference play on Wednesday afternoon at Wilkes with first pitch of game one set for 4 p.m.
--ROYALS--
