STROUDSBURG, PA. – After frigid temperatures and unplayable field conditions canceled the four-game opening series of 2023, the Queens College softball team officially got their season under Wednesday evening on the road.
Cancelation and rescheduling of games in the East region at this time are undefeated over the Knights but on Wednesday afternoon the 2023 season's first pitch for Queens would get underway.
The Knights traveled to Stroudsburg, PA as they matched against the Warriors of East Stroudsburg University in a midweek doubleheader which was moved from Tuesday to Wednesday due to Tuesday's snow.
Head coach
Amy Delmore and her coaching staff would give debuts to four new Knights in the doubleheader against the Warriors as rookies
Brianna Call (Fishkill, N.Y.), Allie Parascandola (East Quogue, N.Y.), sophomore
Dani Roselli (Levittown, N.Y.), and graduate student
Allyson Dilday (Castle Rock, CO) earned their first career starts.
Junior
Dyana Budakowski (Washingtonville, N.Y.) got the game one start but with the Washingtonville native unable to find her command, the Warriors would take an early 7-0 run before a pitching change brought on senior
Myaisha Kelly (Albany, N.Y.) in the second inning.
The Warriors who entered having played 10 games would use an early offensive barrage as the Knights were just getting ready to swing their bats.
Kelly would limit the damage allow five hits and four runs over the next four innings of play but the Warriors' game one starter of Paige Zigmund would keep the Knights bat quiet as Queens dropped game one to the final score of 11-0 (5 innings).
Game two would bring a different native with Dilday earning her first career start.
The Knights would tally four hits led by the senior trio of
Cyarra Alvarado (Coral Springs, FL) (2-3 AB, 2B), Ann Grimshaw (New Hyde Park, N.Y.) (1-3 AB), and pinch hitter Kelly
(1-1 AB, RBI) but a late rally would fall short as the Knights dropped a closely contested game two to the score of 2-1.
With Dilday in the pitching circle, the experienced graduate student would continue to limit the Warriors' bat as she looked on in the hopes of the Knights' offense finding the sweet spot on their bats.
Through the first four innings of play, the Colorado native would leave seven Warriors stranded including a base-loaded opportunity with no outs in the second innings. But she notched two strikeouts and induced a fly out to center field to keep the game scoreless.
In the top of the fourth inning, Call would earn a walk to begin the inning before tallying her second career stolen base in two games, but the Warriors would evade damage as Grimshaw flew out to left center field before Call was called out at third to end the inning.
After Dilday left another Warriors runner stranded on base, Alvarado would notch her first double of the season to left center field and the Knights first hit of the afternoon, but the ESU defense would leave Alvarado stranded on third to end the top half of the fifth inning.
After having kept the ESU offense quiet, two fielding errors in the bottom half of the fifth would result in a 2-0 lead for the home side.
A quiet sixth inning for the Knights would see them heading into the seventh trailing 2-0 and down to their last three outs.
ESU would get the first out as Budakowski struck out looking after battling hard for nine pitches before Grimshaw tallied in a single to right field to start the rally.
Next at-bat Alvarado would record her first multi-hit game of the season with a single to center field before senior
Katherine Gallagher (Orlando, FL.) got hit by a pitch to load the bases.
With one out and bases loaded, Queens looked to be turning the tide as Kelly delivered in a pinch hit situation with a RBI single to left field as the Knights cut the deficit down to 2-1.
But the Warriors would hold their nerve as they struck out the next two batters to hold off a seventh-inning rally for a 2-1 victory over Queens Wednesday afternoon.
UP NEXT: Head coach
Amy Delmore and the Knights now travel to warmer conditions to begin a 10-game road stand in the Sunshine State and home state welcoming for Alvarado and Gallagher beginning on Monday (Mar. 6) afternoon.
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