Last week, Softball added one win to their record, but it was followed by three straight losses as the Hawks split at Lafayette in a doubleheader last Wednesday before falling to Marist in another road doubleheader on Friday.
In Game One against Lafayette, the Hawks came out on top with a 9-0 shutout. They got on the board quickly and scored a run in the top of the first inning as a result of junior utility player Amanda Hopeck being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, bringing home junior first baseman Kayla Rosado.
Two more runs were scored in the top of the second inning to advance the Hawks to 3-0 over the Leopards. Senior outfielder Jasmine Higa walked to first base and was followed by freshman infielder and outfielder Lindsey Baron. Baron smashed a two-run home run to center field, bringing home Higa and herself. In the top of the fourth inning, junior outfielder Amber Wozniak singled up the middle while Baron was on third base, resulting in an RBI for Wozniak and another run for the team.
In the top of the fifth inning, sophomore outfielder Katie Harrington crushed her second career home run to left field and earned the team another run, making the score 5-0. The Hawks scored four runs in top of the sixth inning, securing their 9-0 shutout victory. The bases were loaded with sophomore outfielder Morgan Maziarz on third base pinch running for junior outfielder Sam Tomasetti, Rosado on second, and Wozniak on first. Hopeck hit an RBI single to center field, bringing home Maziarz. With the bases still loaded, Harrington popped out to left field and Rosado tagged up for another run. Junior infielder Deangie Jimenez singled out to left field to score Wozniak, followed by sophomore catcher Erika Coreth also singling out to left field to bring home Hopeck for the ninth and final run.
Sophomore pitcher Alyssa Irons held the Leopards when they went up to bat, and after three outs, the game ended early due to the run rule.
In Game Two against Lafayette, the Hawks got on the board early again with Rosado hitting a single to second base to score Baron for the first run in the top of the first inning. However, Lafayette replied by scoring two runs in the bottom of the inning .to lead Monmouth 2-1.
In the top of the third inning, Monmouth scored their second run when Baron hit a solo home run to left center field to tie the game up at 2-2. Lafayette came back in the bottom of the inning to score four more runs, making it 6-2.
Neither team scored again until the bottom of the sixth inning, when Lafayette finalized their 7-2 win over the Hawks.
“In Game One, Alyssa set the tone in the circle and our offense came out very aggressive,” said Head Coach Shannon Salsburg. “Lafayette came out in Game Two and took advantage of our mistakes. We had a couple miscues where we didn’t make the right choices defensively, and we just have to fight back a little better. We’ve been doing a nice job recently of answering when teams put runs up, but tried to do a little too much today.”
In the first game against Marist, the Red Foxes were the first to get a run on the scoreboard. Neither team scored for the rest of the game, solidifying Marist’s 2-0 win over the Hawks.
In Game Two, Marist came in hot with four runs during their first at-bat. Monmouth replied with two runs of their own in the top of the second inning. Coreth sent a home run to left field, scoring herself and Hopeck.
The Red Foxes scored two more runs in the bottom of the second inning and three more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Monmouth scored one run during the top of the fifth, with Baron hitting a solo home-run to make the score 3-9.
Marist scored one more run in the bottom of the fifth inning, and the Hawks scored two runs during their last at bat in the top of the seventh inning with Wozniak hitting a two-run home run to left field, scoring herself and Baron to make the final score 5-10. This was Wozniak’s 13th career home run, and 99th career hit.
“Today, Marist came out with a great game plan and disrupted what we like to do,” said Salsburg. “They came out excited and took advantage of some miscues in both games. Offensively, we had some good innings but struggled to push runs across. We’re going to take a couple days off and get back to it on Monday. We need to focus on putting ourselves in a good position for the final six MAAC (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) games.”
This is the first time that Monmouth has lost both games in a doubleheader since April 30, 2017 against Siena. Their record is now 27-15 and 11-3 in MAAC play on the season.
The Hawks are next in action on Sunday, when they will travel to Loudonville, NY for a doubleheader with Siena. First pitch of Game One is set for 12:00 p.m.
PHOTO TAKEN by Sam Navarro
