CALDWELL, N.J. - For the fifth straight twin-bill, the Georgian Court University softball team split a pair, this time on the road vs. arch-rival Caldwell College at Caldwell Field. The Lions, in what seems to be a theme of late, lost the first game 6-5 before crunching the Cougars 11-2 in the second game.
The Lions finish the day at 12-18, 4-4 CACC while Caldwell goes to 14-14, 6-4 CACC.
Georgian Court opened the first game with three runs in the top of the first, including a two-run triple by Rachel Ruch. A double by sophomore Cassandra Cefolo (Florham Park, NJ/Hanover Park) in the bottom of the first plated sophomore Dia Cascone (Staten Island, NY/Susan Wagner) to make the score 3-1. The Lions pushed their lead to 5-1 with a two-run homer by Courtney Cuevas in the top of the third. In the bottom of the third, Caldwell loaded the bases and scored one run on a wild pitch and another on a sacrifice fly from Tamez that cut the deficit to 5-3.
The score remained 5-3 until the bottom of the seventh. With two out, the Cougars loaded the bases on an error and infield singles by senior Patti Garofolo (Collegeville, PA/Springford) and freshman Mariah Lucena (Belleville, NJ/Belleville). Tamez stepped up and drilled a double deep down the left field line that allowed all three base runners to score, giving Caldwell a come-from-behind 6-5 victory. Tamez ended up with two hits and four runs batted in for the game.
Senior Brittany Pulido (Ojai, CA/Nordhoff) pitched all seven innings and gave up five runs, four earned, on six hits to improve to 9-3 on the season. GCU's Diana Sansevera also went the distance, surrendering six runs, three earned, on nine hits in the loss.
In the second game, Georgian Court registered 13 hits, including four home runs and three doubles, to put the game out of reach. Ruch and Jess Comiskey each drove in three runs, and Melissa DePalma went 3-for-3 with three runs.
Tamez doubled home Cascone in the second inning, and sophomore Kelly Schymanski (Pottstown, PA/Owen Roberts) had two hits for Caldwell in the loss.
Shannon Dukes (5-5) won her fifth straight decision, yielding one earned run in her five innings of work.
