Easton, Pa. – The Le Moyne College softball team finished their Spring Break trip with a doubleheader on Wednesday against Lafayette. The Dolphins swept the leopards with a 11-2 win and a 15-6 win to finish the day.
 
"I'm very pleased with the progress we've made over the last week as a team" said head coach Tracey Roman. "We're doing great things offensively and working very hard to manufacture runs. Our pitchers are settling in more and more with every outing and our defense has been solid. Players coming in off the bench are contributing in huge ways and are a big part of the success we've had this week.
 
I'm really proud of the way our team has reframed losing into learning throughout the early part of the season. Our ability to win 5 out of 7 on this trip came from embracing the lessons we've gained from the games we've lost and committing to improve in those areas. This mindset has made all the difference and we can't wait to make our debut to the NEC this weekend."
 
First Game:
 
The Leopards put two runs in the books at the bottom of the first. Grace Hausamann singled through the middle then stole second during Megan Coyle's at-bat. Coyle then homered to left and brought herself and Hausamann home. The Dolphins responded with a single from redshirt junior Frankie Larobardiere (North Syracuse, N.Y. / Cicero-North Syracuse/ Onondaga C.C.). Freshman third baseman Molly Wolf (Horseheads, N.Y. / Horseheads) pinch ran for Larobardiere and advanced to second off a fielder's choice where freshman left-fielder Sydney Nesci (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) reached first. Graduate student catcher Brandi Feeney (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse/Saint Peter's) reached first on a throwing error made by the third baseman. Nesci and Wolf both scored off the error. Feeney then scored off a bunt from graduate center-fielder Isabelle Boudreau (Memramcook, New Brunswick/Mathieu-Martin/Pace) making it 3-2 at the bottom of the second.
 
In the top of the third, first baseman Mckenzie Bergdoll (Attleboro, Mass./Attleboro) registered her third homerun which was hit into left field. Directly following, sophomore designated player Audrey Benderski (Spring Lake Park, Minn./Spring Lake Park) hit her second homerun of the year bringing the score to 5-2. The runs kept coming in the fourth starting off with a single by Feeney. Graduate left fielder Jillian Dunn (Fiskdale, Mass. / Tantasqua Regional) pinch ran for Feeney and advanced to second off a sacrifice bunt from redshirt junior Brooke Nicolaos (Liverpool, N.Y. / Cicero-North Syracuse). Boudreau then reached on a throwing error and Dunn advanced to third and scored on the error.
 
The runs halted for both teams until the top of the sixth. Nicolaos started the inning by being walked. Boudreau then reached on a throwing error made by the pitcher where Nicolaos then advanced to second and reached third off the error. Dybacz flied out to center as Nicolaos scored and Boudreau advanced to third. Junior second baseman Dominique Rinaldi (Sayville, NY/Sayville) then reached on a fielder's choice while Boudreau scored. Benderski was then walked and to solidify the lead, Larobardiere added another homerun to the books bringing herself, Benderski and Rinaldi home with a final score of 11-2. Winning graduate pitcher Laura Bennett (Corning, NY/Corning-Painted Post) registered her 500^th strikeout during the game.
 
Second Game:
 
Dybacz started the second game off with a bang, by hitting a homerun into center field. Rinaldi followed by singling to shortstop. Larobardiere then singled to left and Rinaldi advanced to second. Nesci came up and doubled to left center bringing Larobardiere and Rinaldi both home making it 3-0 heading into the bottom of the first. Freshman pitcher Arianna Exarchakis (Monroe, N.Y. / Monroe-Woodbury) led off pitching in the second game. At the bottom of the first Mary Grace O'Neill hit a double into left field. O'Neil then advanced to third off a ground out and scored off Regan Dillion flying out to left field.
 
In top of the second, Dybacz doubled to right center. Rinaldi singled to center and advanced to second by a throwing error which Dybacz scored on. In the bottom of the second, Marisa Powell walked and Kaya Ciccone-Coz tripled to right center bringing home Powell. Kylene Gooch then singled up the middle bringing home Ciccone-Coz. A pitching change was made taking out Exarchakis and bringing in redshirt-junior pitcher Michaela Stockwell (Fort Plain,NY/Fort Plain) who held the Leopards with no runs for the rest of the inning. In the top of the third, Larobardiere reached on a throwing error made by the shortstop. Wolf then was brought in to pinch run for Larobardiere and advanced to second off a fielding error in which Nesci reached first on. Nicolas then singled to shortstop while Nesci advanced to second and Wolf advanced to third. Dybacz singled into right center bringing Nesci and Wolf home and Nicolaos advanced to third, but would be left on base.
 
The runs kept adding up in the top of the fourth when Bergdoll doubled to right center and Benderski singled through the middle advancing to second on the throw and Bergdoll advanced to third. Freshman outfielder Kara Bacon (Warrensburg, N.Y. / Warrensburg) then pinch ran for Benderski. Larobardiere re-entered the game and homered to left field bringing herself, Bacon and Bergdoll home. A pitching change was then made for the Leopards where Morrigan Gardiner came in for Kailee Sawai. Junior catcher Elaina Kassap (Long Beach, N.Y. / Long Beach) singled into center field and advanced to second off an error by the centerfielder. Dunn entered the game to pinch run for Kassap. Dunn advanced to third off a ground out. Boudreau was then walked and sophomore UTL Alayna Bush (Adams, N.Y. / South Jefferson) came in to pinch run for her at first. Dybacz then hit another double bringing in Bush and Dunn making it 11-3.
 
The Leopards then scored another run in the bottom of the fourth by Powell off a ground out. It wasn't until the top of the seventh where the action was brought back by another single from Dybacz. Rinaldi then singled to the pitcher and Dybacz advanced to second. Bergdoll was then hit by a pitch bringing Dybacz to third and Rinaldi to second for bases loaded as Benderski came up to bat. Benderski then singled through right sending Bergdoll to third and both Rinaldi and Dybacz home. Kassap reached on a fielding error by the right fielder and advanced to second while Benderski and Bergdoll both scored. The Leopard returned with a double by Dillion into right field. Coyle hit a double following and sent Dillion home adding another run to the board. Coyle advanced to third off a ground out and scored off a single made by Olivia Catalina. The Dolphins ended up holding the Leopards at 6 runs and finished with 15 themselves.
 
The Dolphin's will start their conference play this Saturday, March 16^th at Saint Francis University. The series will start with a doubleheader on Saturday at 12pm and 2pm and will carry into Sunday at 12pm. The games will be held at Red Flash Softball Field - Loretto, Pa.