The New York University softball team opened University Athletic Association (UAA) competition with a doubleheader at Case Western Reserve University on Friday, March 29, in Cleveland, OH.

The Violets (11-5, 1-1) won the first game 4-2, but the host Spartans (12-6, 1-1) posted a walk-off 5-3 victory in the nitecap.

Karissa Zubulake went the distance for the Violets in the opener, collecting her fourth win of the campaign.

The Spartans scored the first run of the game, but the Violets quickly tied it with an unearned run in the third.

Then, after Case Western again took a one-run lead, the NYU bats exploded in the fifth as Kalena Paredes and Rachel Colbus both hit solo home runs followed by a sacrifice fly from Claire Stefanelli.    

Zubulake held the Spartans scoreless the rest of the way and was aided by two double plays turned by her fielders.

In the nitecap, the Violets got out to a 2-0 lead on RBI singles by Ashley Mains in the first and Serena Ponciano in the fifth. However, Case Western tallied three in the bottom of the fifth and held the lead until the Violets pushed across an unearned run in the top of the seventh.

But, in a twist of irony, it was the home team's Cleveland, specifically Arisa Cleveland, who ended the afternoon with a walk-off two-run home run. 

Maggie Swan went 5.1 innings for the Violets before being replaced by Scarlett Murphy, who suffered her second loss of the season.

Ponciano, Mains and Diana King each recorded two hits for NYU in game two.

"Two good teams playing great softball all day," said Head Coach Now-Allah James. "They just got one bigger hit in the last game than we did." 

There will be no rest for the weary, however, as the teams return to the field tomorrow for another doubleheader beginning at 1:00pm.