Farmville, Va. – The Le Moyne College softball team closed out the Longwood Spring Break Classic with a second matchup of the weekend against Lafayette on Sunday morning. The Dolphins earned their second straight win over the Leopards, 6-2, and now sit with a 3-14 record on the season.
Despite each team recording a pair of singles in the first inning, neither cracked the scoreboard until the 'Phins struck for two runs in the top of the second inning.
Senior first baseman Audrey Benderski (Spring Lake Park, Minn./Spring Lake Park) led-off the inning with a walk before advancing to second and into scoring position on a wild pitch as sophomore catcher Ava Todd (Savannah, N.Y. / Tyburn Academy) walked to get on-base later in the at-bat. Benderski crossed the plate on a double down the right field line off the bat of freshman left fielder Kayla Dunkerley (Purcellville, Va. / Loudon Valley) one batter later as Todd moved to third.
A single from sophomore center fielder Maddie Martin (Carlisle, Pa. / Cumberland Valley) allowed Todd to score and put Le Moyne up, 2-0.
The Leopards put together an early-inning rally in their half of the second as the first two hitters got on base due to a walk and single allowed by freshman starter Adrianna Laraway (Colonie, N.Y. / Colonie) before left fielder Emma Ahlborn reached on an infield single which scored right fielder Ava Butler.
Lafayette tied the game at two runs apiece in the bottom of the fourth inning as center fielder Olivia Catalina singled to left field before stealing second and advancing to third base on a throwing error early in the frame. Second baseman Dani Rosner drove in the runner on a single up the middle before Laraway got third baseman Katie Harrington to line out to finish the inning.
Le Moyne responded immediately in the top of the fifth to retake the lead as junior right fielder Sydney Nesci (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) reached base on a fielder's choice before junior DP Arianna Exarchakis (Monroe, N.Y./Monroe-Woodbury) got on due to a fielding error by the Leopards.
One batter later, sophomore third baseman Cianna Benamati (Ballston Lake, N.Y./Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) singled through the left side to load the bases before Benderski connected on an RBI ground-out to short. Freshman shortstop Coral Enscoe (Webster, N.Y. / Bishop Kearney) then singled to third base to score freshman pinch runner Camryn Shenk (Rome, N.Y. / Camden) one at-bat before Benamati crossed the plate on an error following a double-steal attempt. The 'Phins closed out the inning with a 5-2 lead over Lafayette.
The Dolphins added the final run of the game and extended their lead to four runs, 6-2, in the next inning as Dunkerley singled through the left side to lead-off the inning before being driven in on a sac-fly by Nesci.
Sophomore Isabella Kwashek (West Deptford, N.J. / West Deptford) closed out the final three innings of the game in the circle, holding the Leopards scoreless to secure a save and the second consecutive win for Le Moyne.
Martin and Dunkerley led with two hits each while five different 'Phins recorded an RBI in the victory.
Laraway earned the win, allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits and three walks while striking out one batter in four innings for the Dolphins. Kwashek earned the save by allowing no runs on zero hits and two walks over the final 3.0 innings.
What's Next:
Le Moyne will open 2026 NEC action on the road against LIU in three games on Saturday and Sunday, Mar. 14-15.
