Syracuse, N.Y. – The Le Moyne College softball team claimed two Northeast-10 Conference wins over University of New Haven on Friday afternoon at the Le Moyne Softball Complex.
Le Moyne won game one of the doubleheader by a score of 9-6, then the Dolphins put up 12 runs in the bottom of the third in the second half of the doubleheader en route to a 13-7 victory.
"Our hitters made good adjustments at the plate in both games which allowed us to manufacture the runs we needed to win," said Le Moyne head coach
Tracey Roman after the first home doubleheader of the season. "We kept our composure offensively when New Haven took early leads by immediately answering back. Our ability to respond and persevere through adversity is a sign of growth for our team. These two wins were a total team effort," Roman continued.
Redshirt-sophomore right-hander
Laura Bennett (Corning, N.Y./Corning-Painted Post) threw her 13
th complete game of the season to earn her ninth victory in game one, allowing two earned runs with seven strikeouts in 7.0 innings of work. Graduate catcher
CJ Barrett (Apalachin, N.Y./Vestal) recorded a career-high in hits during the 9-6 win, going 4-4 at the plate with two runs scored and an RBI.
Also during game one, Freshman DP
Audrey Benderski (Spring Lake Park, Minn./Spring Lake Park) tied her season-high in hits by going 3-4 at the plate with an RBI and a run scored, sophomore second baseman
Dominique Rinaldi (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) went 3-4 with two runs scored and an RBI, while sophomore right fielder
Alyssa Dybacz (Baldwinsville, N.Y./Charles W. Baker) and senior center fielder
Isabelle Boudreau (Memramcook, New Brunswick/Mathieu-Martin/Pace) provided two hits and two RBIs each.
After New Haven took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, Le Moyne put up four runs in the fourth to take the lead, then five more in the fifth to create a 9-2 advantage.
Bennett, redshirt-sophomore right-hander
Michaela Stockwell (Fort Plain, N.Y./Fort Plain) and sophomore righty
Julia Panarella (Southington, Conn./Southington) each pitched at least 2.0 innings during the game two victory.
Panarella started game two in the circle and went 2.1 innings, then Stockwell got the final two outs of the third and got Le Moyne through the fourth and fifth frames while holding the Chargers to two runs.
After a scoreless first two innings during the second half of the doubleheader, New Haven put up five runs in the top of the third. The Dolphins responded with 10 hits and 12 runs scored in the bottom of the inning. Senior first baseman
Mckenzie Bergdoll (Attleboro, Mass./Attleboro) recorded a combined three RBIs in two at bats during the inning, while Dybacz, redshirt-sophomore third baseman
Frankie Larobardiere (North Syracuse, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse/Onondaga C.C.) and Benderski each drove in two runs in the third.
Freshman shortstop
Avery Linn (Bethpage, N.Y./Plainedge) recorded her first career hit, her first career double, and scored a season-high two runs during game two of the doubleheader.
The last time a Le Moyne softball team scored at least 10 runs in a single inning was during a 13-5 win over Saint Anselm in the 2017 NE10 Conference Championships, when the Dolphins put up 10 runs in the top of the sixth. The Dolphins' 12 runs in the third is the most scored by a Le Moyne squad in a single inning since the 2007 team put up 12 runs in the third inning during their 25-2 victory over a winless Bentley team on April 14.
The Le Moyne softball team improves to 14-15 overall and 3-5 in NE10 play following the doubleheader sweep.
The Dolphins will play another home doubleheader at the softball complex on Saturday against Southern Connecticut State University (9-13, 5-5 NE10) at 12:30 and 2:30 p.m.
