Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
Staten Island, NY – The Wagner College softball team dropped its final two home games of the season today, losing to Northeast Conference (NEC) foe Monmouth University, 6-3 and 10-0, on Senior Day at Wagner Field.
The Hawks jumped out to an early lead, as a leadoff walk translated into the game's first run on a Kyla Weiser single through the middle, giving Monmonth the quick 1-0 advantage.
Wagner came right back in the bottom half of the first with two runs of its own, with Ashley Olsen (Staten Island, NY / Notre Dame Academy) and Kristen Matteoni (Reno, NV / Galena) both scoring on an Amanda Garcia (Fresno, CA / Fresno) double to right centerfield. The senior's extra-base hit was her sixth of the season, only one behind Matteoni for the team lead.
Singles by Alyssa McCulloch (East Brunswick, NJ / East Brunswick) and Matteoni led to Wagner's third run of the game, as senior Hailey Corthell, (Reno, NV / Reno) who reached base on a fielder's choice, crossed the plate on a wild pitch by Lauren Sulick, extending the Seahawks lead to 3-1.
The teams went scoreless in the next three frames, before Monmouth tied the game with lone runs in the top of the sixth and seventh innings, sending the Seahawks into their sixth extra-inning affair of the season.
As neither team could muster anything offensively in the eighth and ninth innings, the international run rule came into effect in the top of the 10th. With Emily deLong being placed on second base to start the stanza, the Hawks tacked on three runs on two hits and one Wagner error, to take a 6-3 lead.
With the game on the line, the Seahawks were unable to advance Taylor Rauscher (Peoria, AZ / Sunrise Mountain), who was placed on second to start the inning. Sulick retired the only three batters she faced in the inning, capping off the 6-3 game one win.
Wagner sophomore Judy Betz (Ashburn, VA / Broad Run) threw her 20th complete game of the year, allowing four earned runs on 10 hits, while striking out four in the extra inning loss.
After a short rest period, the two teams readied for a pivotal game two with Garcia taking the circle for Wagner against Sulick.
Monmouth got out to an early lead in game two after a first inning, two-out, two-run home run by deLong gave the Hawks a quick 2-0 advantage.
Sulick, who took the circle in game two as well, retired the first three Seahawk batters in the bottom of the first, before giving up her first hit of the game in the second inning on a one-out single over the third baseman, by Brittany Huss (Anthem, AZ / Boulder Creek). Sulick kept the runner out of harm's way though, setting down the next two Seahawks to keep the lead, 2-0.
Monmouth pulled away in the top of the fourth inning, exploding for eight runs on four hits and two Wagner errors, and taking a 10-0 lead.
The 10-run deficit was too much to overcome for Wagner, as Sulick shut down the Seahawks in the fourth and fifth innings, activating the five-inning mercy rule and sealing the game two victory.
Garcia was credited with her eighth loss of the year for the Seahawks who fall to 12-26, and 7-11 in NEC play. Sulick's two wins moved Monmouth up in the standings, as the Hawks improved to 20-20 and 9-9 in the conference.
Wagner will make the trip out to Saint Francis (PA) on Wednesday, May 4, for its final NEC doubleheader of the regular season. The first game is slated for a 12:00 p.m. start.
