WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (Mar. 11, 2019) - After watching its first six scheduled games get canceled due to poor weather conditions, the Queens College softball team finally got its 2019 season started with a doubleheader on Monday (Mar. 11) against Palm Beach Atlantic. Unfortunately for the Knights, the Sailfish took both ends of the double-dip with 14-6 and 3-2 victories at Simpson Field.
Game One: Palm Beach Atlantic 14, Queens (NY) 6 - Five Innings
Allie Stanya made her collegiate debut in the circle for the Knights in the first contest and threw a strong first inning against a Sailfish squad that was ranked at various points to start the season. PBA would get on the board against the visitors from the Northeast region in the second inning, however, as Janie McCloskey took a pitch over the left-field wall for a three-run blast to give the hosts the early lead. QC scored a run in the fourth on a wild pitch as
Maryjane D'Agostino crossed the plate to cut the deficit to two runs, but the Sailfish tacked on four in the bottom of the frame to stake a 7-1 lead. The Knights fought back with a five-run fifth inning as
Jessica Hickey was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to start the rally.
Sharina Nazario singled through the left side of the infield to drive in a run and after a walk was issued to
Gabriella Russo, Stanya knocked in a pair of runs with a single to center field. Queens had come all the way back to trail by a run, but the Sailfish responded with force to the tune of eight runs to claim a mercy-rule victory.
Nazario had two hits for the Knights in the loss as the team collected six hits in total.
Game Two: Palm Beach Atlantic 3, Queens (NY) 2
The second game was
Emma Wimmer's debut in the circle for the Knights and the freshman would be staked out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning as
Ann Grimshaw reached on a fielding error to score Nazario with the game's first run. The Knights utilized speed on the basepaths in the fourth, as
Danielle D'Angelo scampered home on a wild pitch to double QC's lead; the Sailfish responded with two runs in the fourth on a Kaley Hinds two-run single. Wimmer held PBA off the board until the bottom of the seventh inning as Kaylee Winn drove home the winning run on a sacrifice fly to give the Sailfish a walk-off victory.
Katherine Gallagher recorded her first career hit in the loss, one of four for the Knights in the contest.
Queens will continue its Florida swing on Tuesday (Mar. 12) with a doubleheader against Ave Maria University. The Knights and Gyrenes will compete at Barry University's Feinbloom Field beginning at 5 p.m.
