In a doubleheader featuring a pair of teams ranked first in their region, the New York University softball team hit six home runs en route to two victories over University Athletic Association (UAA) foe Washington University in St. Louis on Friday, April 19, at Manhattanville College in Purchase, NY.
NYU (17-11, 5-7 UAA), which entered the game ranked #1 in the Northeast Region, came from behind to win game one 7-6 on a walk-off three-run home run off the bat of
Ashley Mains, and then followed it up with a 5-3 win in game two to complete the sweep against WashU (13-13, 4-6 UAA), the top team in the Midwest Region.
Mains' aforementioned home run, her second and the team's third of the game came with the Bears leading 6-4 and the Violets down to their last out.
Jacqueline Finn also homered for NYU in game one, while Mains and
Serena Ponciano led the way offensively with two hits each.
Cassi Parilus pitched a scoreless top of the seventh inning to keep the margin three runs and earned the victory to improve to 3-2 on the season.
In game two,
Claire Stefanelli's first inning home run gave the Violets a 1-0 lead that blossomed to 4-0 through five innings. WashU scored twice in the sixth to cut the lead in half, but was unable to get any closer as NYU held on for the 5-3 victory.
Diana King and
Morgan Clemens both also hit home runs in the game two win while also tallying a pair of hits.
Karissa Zubulake earned the win, tossing five scoreless innings and only allowing two runs, while striking out four. Parilus once again finished the game in the circle and picked up her third save of the season.
The Bears and Violets will try to get two more games in this weekend, weather permitting. Stay tuned to GoNYUAthletics.com for updates on if and when those games will be played as heavy rains are expected in the area beginning Friday night..
