Game 1:
The Cavaliers looked to rebound from their last time out on the diamond, two losses in a double header against Neumann University this past Saturday.
Cabrini College bounced back with a 10-1 victory against Cedar Crest in the first game of their double header on Tuesday, April 19, 2016. The Cavaliers improved to 15-13 overall on the season with a game that was called in the fifth inning under the mercy rule. Laura Rau started for the Cedar Crest Falcons and faced the hot bats of Cabrini early, as lead-off freshman second baseman Darian Caputo homered to start off the bottom of the first inning.
Interim head coach Sammy Thompson was impressed by the 14 hits the Cavs were able to produce.
“We played really well, we came out and our bats were working and we were able to string some hits together,” coach Thompson said.
The home run was Caputo’s first of the season and sophomore outfielder Christine Ferraro followed behind her with a single, then stole second base. Ferraro then scored an unearned run on an error hit by senior short-stop Kaitlyn Cooper, giving Cabrini a 2-0 lead against the Falcons heading into the top of the second inning.
Cavalier ace Jess Giordano pitched all five innings, earning her eighth win on the season, improving to 8-5 on the season. She gave up four hits, one earned run and walked two of the 16 batters she went against. The only run was given up in the top of the third inning on a sacrifice fly from Falcons second/third baseman Aimee Sarboukh.
“Working with a team that is 50/50 in terms of being on top of the program or the bottom of the program they’re always going to push push push so for us making sure our defense is perfect and our offense being consistent really helped us out,” Cooper said.
The Cavaliers used a four run bottom of the fourth to hop to a 7-1 lead on Cedar Crest.
In the bottom of the fifth inning Cedar Crest gave up three more hits and four errors to the Cavaliers. The game then ended under the mercy rule. Caputo had a game-high three hits and three RBI’s. Cooper had one hit in four at bats with two RBI’s and four other Cavaliers totaled two hits each. Freshman first baseman Marissa Alpaugh and Giordano also pitched in with a hit each. Ferraro totaled two stolen bases and Amber Dietrich stole a base as well. Umpires Bob Mullaney and John Endy called the game.
Game: 2:
Cabrini got things going in the first inning as Ferraro hit a triple to center field, eventually scoring on a ground ball by Cooper. Cedar Crest tied things up in the second inning with a double by designated hitter Rachel Stump.
Cedar Crest got things going in the fourth inning as Molly Schnaubelt smacked a two run home run to give them the lead. After back-to-back hits Jackie Gallagher singled to left field to give the Falcons a three-run lead. In the bottom half of the inning the Cavs returned the favor as junior outfielder Taylor Mack hit a double to center field scoring sophomore catcher Sarah Beckner to make it a 4-2 game. In the fifth inning Schnaubelt hit her second home run of the game, making their lead back to three runs. In the bottom of the fifth inning junior third baseman Lindsay Savar hit an RBI single to right field to make it a 5-3 game.
“We came out kind of hitting a bit in the low, we waited until the fifth inning really to get the bats alive,” Thompson said.
The Cavs found themselves down two runs heading into the final inning as Ferraro led things off with a single up the middle. The very next batter Cooper hit a game-tying home run to right field. Sophomore Jess Giordano, who has been struggling at the plate the past few games, stepped up to the plate and blasted a line drive walk off home run to center field to win the game and sweep Cedar Crest College.
“I wasn’t having a great day at the plate today and I just knew we needed to get runners on base to stay in the game, so I really was just swinging for a base hit and I got a hold of one and it just kept on going,” Giordano said.
