Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score

Jersey City, NJ – Behind a group of powerful bats, the Wagner College softball team picked up the two-game sweep of Saint Peter's today, winning the opening game 11-5, before blanking the Peahens, 7-0, in the nightcap. The two non-conference wins improve the Seahawks record to 12-26, while Saint Peter's falls to 4-27 in their 2012 campaign.

To start the day, head coach Glen Payne gave the nod to junior Judy Betz (Ashburn, VA / Broad Run) to take the circle for the Seahawks. After retiring the first two batters to leadoff the game, Betz ran into trouble, giving up back-to-back doubles and allowing the Peahens to jump out to an early 1-0 lead.

While the Seahawks went through the first two innings without a hit, Saint Peter's continued to pressure Betz and the Wagner defense, loading the bases with just one out against them. Betz picked up a key double play ball that the Seahawks took advantage of, getting out of the jam, still trailing by one.

Wagner's deficit was wiped out in the top of the third inning, as senior Ashley Olsen (Staten Island, NY / Notre Dame Academy) gave the Seahawks their first hit of the game, taking the second pitch she saw deep over leftfield fence, knotting the game up at one apiece.

As Betz began to find her groove on the mound, the Seahawks bats also began to heat up, as leadoff hits by Brittany Huss (Anthem, AZ / Boulder Creek) and MacKenzie Alfaro (Riverside, CA / Riverside) transitioned into Wagner's second run. Freshman Jessica Albarran (Corona, CA / Eleanor Roosevelt) brought Huss home on her 26^th hit of the year, recording her 17^th RBI and putting the Green & White on top, 2-1.

The Peahens came right back in their half of the fourth inning though, warming up to Betz for two runs on three hits to retake the lead, 3-2.

To open the bottom of the fifth inning, freshman Samantha Bedker (Phoenix, AZ / Sandra Day O'Connor) came in to relieve Betz on the mound. After loading the bases on two hit batters and a walk, the right-handed hurler got herself out of the jam, keeping her team within one run.

The Seahawks exploded in the sixth inning, jumping on the Peahens for seven runs on eight hits to take a commanding 9-3 lead. Wagner batted around the order in the frame, with hits by Huss, Albarran, Olsen, Beth Lewis (Ashburn, VA / Stone Bridge), Taylor Rauscher (Peoria, AZ / Sunrise Mountain), and Kelsey Parker (Lynnwood, WA / Lynnwood).

Saint Peter's got two runs on three hits back in the bottom of the sixth inning to make it a 9-5 game, but Bedker wouldn't be halted, working her way through runners-on situations, keeping Wagner in the lead.

Wagner added two more in the seventh inning on Rauscher's third hit of the game, as she picked up her third RBI of the afternoon. Senior Vanessa Lenart (Fontana, CA / Henry J. Kaiser HS) also tallied a hit and a run scored in the seventh frame, capping off a convincing 11-5 Wagner win.

The Seahawks bats stayed hot for the second game of the non-conference doubleheader, as each team traded small-ball hits for the first few innings, before Wagner blew up for a six-run fourth inning. Albarran led off the inning, followed by Olsen reaching on a hit by pitch. Lenart, followed suit, reaching base on a roped a two-run single, before she was driven home by a two-run homerun by junior Carley Nicoletti (Plainville, NY / C.W. Baker). The centerfield blast was Nicoletti's first collegiate homerun in 90 games. Parker and Huss also recorded a RBI in the fourth inning, putting the Green & White up 6-0.

Wagner put one more run on the board in their next at bats, as Lenart crossed the plate for the sixth time this year to add to their lead, 7-0.

Sophomore pitcher Ashley Rollins (Fairfax, VA / Fairfax), who was given just her second start of the year, got herself in a bit of a jam in the bottom of the fifth, but the right-hander worked her way out of it to preserve the shutout.

Freshman Olivia Zwick (Surrey, Canada / Earl Marriot) took to the circle to close out the last two innings for the Wagner defense, and did so without allowing any hits, sealing the 7-0 shutout victory.

Wagner will continue its non-conference schedule tomorrow, April 11, when the Seahawks make the trip up to New Haven, CT, to take on the Bulldogs of Yale in another two-game set. First pitch for that contest is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.