Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
Complete NCAA Div. II Regional Rankings
FLUSHING, N.Y. – Freshman catcher Kaitlyn Crowley combined to go 4-for-6 with two doubles, a homer and six RBI, while teammates Allison Breakey and Anniela Vaccaro provided game-winning singles in respective ends of Wednesday afternoon's doubleheader, as the Queens College softball team (12-8) overtook visiting Pace University (9-7) in both ends of a twinbill. Breakey's hit in the bottom of the eighth inning lifted the Knights to a 5-4 triumph in the opener, while Vaccaro broke a 6-all tie in the bottom of the sixth inning, en route to QC defeating the Setters by a 9-6 count in the nightcap.
Additionally, while the doubleheader was in progress, the National Collegiate Athletic Association announced its first Division II softball regional rankings of the season, and Queens found itself at the No. 8 spot on that list. The Knights were one of four teams from the East Coast Conference to earn a spot on the tally, including top-ranked Dowling, second-ranked Molloy and fourth-ranked C.W. Post.
Game 1: Queens 5, Pace 4 (8 inn.)
The hosts earned this victory in come-from-behind fashion, as Pace used one run in the third inning and two in the fifth to take a 3-0 lead. Queens took back one run in the bottom of the fifth when Breakey's sacrifice fly plated Melissa Natale (leadoff double), and knotted the game at 3-all with one down in the bottom of the seventh inning. Samantha Stallone (three walks, two stolen bases) and Breakey were issued one-out, back-to-back walks, before Crowley (1-for-3, walk) plated both runners when she drove a 1-1 pitch down the left-field line to knot the game with her ninth double of the season.
The Setters scored one run in the top of the eighth as the international tiebreaker rule was instituted, with Chelsea Shea's single to left scoring Nicole Schultheis, giving her squad a 4-3 edge.
But the Pace lead was short-lived once more, as Queens rallied for two runs in its half of the inning to secure the victory. Alexandra Drago moved runner Carla Pennolino to third base with a leadoff sacrifice bunt, before pitcher Bryttne Santana (2-for-4 hitting; 8 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 7 K) helped her own cause by knotting the game on a soft line-drive single to left field. Catherine Pastor followed up with a single up the middle, before Stallone walked two batters later to load the bases. Breakey then sat back in the box and drove a 2-2 offering up the middle to plate Santana with the winning run.
Game 2: Queens 9, Pace 6 (6 inn.)
QC's No. 3, 4 and 5 hitters – Anniela Vaccaro, Crowley and Carla Pennolino – combined to go 8-for-11 with all nine RBI in the nightcap. After Pace tied a 6-3 game in the top of the sixth inning on Lana Buchbinder's three-run homer (her second long ball of the contest), Vaccaro (3-for-4, 3 runs) broke the deadlock with a RBI single to plate Nicole Turato (1-for-2) with the eventual winning run. After Crowley (3-for-3, 2B, HR, 4 RBI) was hit with a pitch to load the bases, Pennolino drove a 0-1 pitch to right field for a single, scoring Breakey (1-for-3, 2 R) and Vaccaro before darkness set in.
Crowley ripped a RBI double in the first inning, and followed with a three-run homer to right-center (her team-high fifth of the season) in the third to push QC in front by a 4-0 count in support of starting pitcher, Faith Tessmer (6-3 record; 6 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, BB, 9 K).
All of Pace's runs came via the long ball, including a solo shot by Rachael McMahon in the fourth, and solo jacks in the fifth by Sarah Meleney and Buchbinder in the fifth to cut the Setters' deficit to 4-3. Queens responded with two runs in the bottom of the fifth to push the lead back to three (6-3), when Vaccaro singled home Stallone (1-for-2, 2 R, 2 SB – 22 on the season) and later came home on Pennolino's base-knock to left.
Head coach Brian DeMasters's Queens side continues its tough week of competition Thursday (Mar. 31), when it plays host to Molloy in an East Coast Conference doubleheader at 3 p.m.
