MELBOURNE, Fla. – While the pitching for Post University Softball has started to come around over the last handful of games in Florida, the offensive side of the ball is what the Eagles have been waiting for to start producing. After their fourth straight shutout loss and seventh overall this season, 3-0, in game one against Ursuline College on Friday, Post would snap their five-game losing streak on a walk-off wild pitch to end their Florida trip on a high note with a 5-4 win in eight innings as they head home to prepare for conference play.
THE BASICS
Post University 0, Ursuline College 3
Post University 5, Ursuline College 4 (8 Innings)
Post University (2-10)
Ursuline College (5-9)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1: Post University 0, Ursuline College 3
It was a duel on the diamond between senior right-hander Maddison Caldwell and sophomore pitcher Casey Barton as neither side would score through the first four innings of the game. Both teams would combine for seven hits in that stretch with Ursuline having five to Post's two but only one runner reaching second base for either team. That one runner would be for the Arrows in the first inning on a single by junior outfielder Evelyn Vallejo to push Barton to second before the bats went quiet.
Senior outfielder Jovanna Herrera scored the game's first run when she hit a solo home run with one out in the fifth off of Caldwell, giving Barton all the run support she would need on the mound. However, a one-out error by Caldwell in the sixth led to a two-out RBI double for junior catcher Christina Dalton and an RBI single from Vallejo to add to the Arrow lead.
In the 3-0 defeat, Caldwell had her best outing of the season going six innings while allowing three runs (one earned) on eight hits with two strikeouts and no walks. For Barton, she got her first win on the season with a seven-inning, three-hit shutout in which she struck out two and walked one.
Game 2: Post University 5, Ursuline College 4 (8 Innings)
Freshman left-hander Devin Barnett got the ball in game two, throwing the first inning of the twin-bill in which she allowed one run on no hits. Two errors by the Post infield allowed Herrera to reach at the beginning of the inning and come around to score when Vallejo reached on the second error of the inning. However, errors by Ursuline would help Post take their first lead in four games after a leadoff single from graduate outfielder Samantha Riccardulli in the bottom of the frame.
Riccardulli got to second on a wild pitch and scored with senior shortstop Caitlin DeAngelis' single which landed her on third because of an error by senior catcher Spenser Mohr. DeAngelis scored when graduate utility player Juliana Rigano grounded out, putting the Eagles ahead 2-1 after one. Behind a second-inning RBI single by Riccardulli, Post extended their lead to two runs, 3-1, forcing sophomore pitcher Kathleen Wack from the game for freshman pitcher Liza Barbato.
After DeAngelis knocked home an insurance run in the fourth with her sacrifice fly, the Arrows answered back against freshman right-hander Allysa Calabrese to tie the game at four all. With two on and one out, junior middle infielder Bridget Bogden's three-run home run made it a brand-new ballgame before Calabrese escaped the inning with runners on the corners.
With the game remaining scoreless after seven, the two teams would head to extra innings with the international tiebreaker rule being enacted which puts a runner on second to start each half-inning. Senior right-hander Jenny Riquelme, who relieved Calabrese in the sixth, got out of a bases-loaded jam with nobody out to keep the game tied at four and with Barbato back on the mound, a wild pitch during Riccardulli's at-bat scored junior infielder Brooke Dickenson from third for the game-winning run, snapping Post's five-game losing streak with the 5-4 win.
BY THE NUMBERS
- In extra-inning games, Post University is 3-0 over the last two seasons when the game goes past seven as they defeated Saint Rose (22-11) in nine innings and New Haven (6-5) in eight innings last year before today's win in eight
- In today's doubleheader, Post pitching allowed just two earned runs while allowing seven total runs due to three errors across both games – Eagles pitching has now allowed four or fewer earned runs in four of their last five games
- Post University is now 1-9 on the season when allowing the first run of the game, winning their first game this year when allowing the first run in game two of the doubleheader
- After being shutout in game one, Post University tied the program record for most consecutive games being shut out with the 2008 team who was shutout in four straight games from April 3rd to April 6th that season
WHO'S NEXT
Post University heads back north to start their conference schedule against Caldwell University on Tuesday down in New Jersey. The first game of the doubleheader is currently scheduled for 2:30 PM. The Eagles are 12-35 all-time against the Cougars and have dropped their last three games against them after winning the previous three games before that.
