FLUSHING, N.Y. - The Queens College softball team remained in sole possession of fourth place in the East Coast Conference standings Friday afternoon, as the Knights garnered a doubleheader split against its next-closest competitor, visiting Mercy College. The Mavericks won by a 4-2 count in a nine-inning opener, before the hosts turned around and picked up a 5-2 win in the nightcap.
Game 1: Mercy 4, Queens 2 (9 inn.)
Queens went out in front, 2-0, with a pair of runs in the bottom off the fifth inning, but were unable to hold on for the victory. Junior Allison Breakey (Frankfort, Ill.) hit a one-out single to left field, and moved to third when freshman Samantha Mattsson (Staten Island, N.Y.) reached safely when a Mavericks infielder dropped a throw to first base on the sacrifice bunt attempt. Then, before the Mercy pitcher returned the ball to the pitcher's circle, Breakey scampered to an uncovered home plate to score the first run of the day. Mattsson moved to third one batter later, then scored on a wild pitch.
Freshmen Jennifer Shereyka (Parlin, N.J.) and Monique Roberge (New Hyde Park, N.Y.), along with sophomore Melissa Natale (Yaphank, N.Y.; double) each had one hit in the contest. Freshman hurler Isabelle Yaroch (Annandale, Va.) struck out four hitters in the pitcher's circle for Queens.
Game 2: Queens 5, Mercy 2
The Knights (16-13, 9-12 ECC) scored four runs in the first inning in support of starting pitcher Nicole Turato (So., Garden City, N.Y.), who scattered eight hits and one walk while striking out five to move to 9-3 on the season. Breakey and Mattsson (2-for-3) reached on a walk and bunt single, respectively, and moved up one base each on Shereyka's sacrifice bunt. After Roberge was issued a four-pitch walk to load the bases, freshman Sara Schendel (Seattle, Wash.) singled to center field to drive in Breakey. From there, a throw to third base careened out of play off Mattsson's helmet, allowing her and Roberge to score to push the lead to 3-0. Natale's infield single later scored Schendel.
After the Mavericks (19-22, 7-15) scored single runs in the third and fourth innings to cut their deficit in half, Roberge provided a RBI single up the middle in the bottom of the fifth to plate Breakey with an insurance run.
Interim head coach John Pisano's Knights are back in ECC action Saturday morning, when they welcome New York Institute of Technology to Flushing for a rare tripleheader. The teams will complete their suspended March 29 contest (Queens leading 6-5, top of the eighth inning) at 11 a.m., and play their regularly-scheduled twinbill soon thereafter.
