The Dominican University softball team split a pair of games, falling to St. Joseph's College (ME) 5-4 before knocking off Wilmington College 6-2. Freshman Marissa Burns collected six hits in her freshman debut, including a pair of RBI singles in the Stars' win over the Fighting Quakers.
Game One: St. Joseph's 5, Dominican 4
With one out in the bottom of the seventh, St. Joseph's Melissa Mayhew's walk-off fielder's choice scored Victoria Ramos as the Monks topped the Stars in Dominican's season opener.
Dominican jumped out to a 4-1 lead after the second as
Alyssa Domico (Naperville, Ill.) ripped a two-run single through the left side in the top of the first to score
Ashley Rea (Lockport, Ill.) and
Sara Hausl (St. Charles, Ill.). After the Monks got one run back in the bottom of the first, Burns laced a two-out single in the top of the second and then scored on a single by Rea.
Vivian Juarez (Lake Zurich, Ill.) came on to run for Rea, scoring from second on a single to center by Hausl.
The Monks evened the score in third, pushing across three unearned run after two outs, capitalizing on a Dominican fielding error.
Dominican threatened in the fourth but failed to push across a run when Burns got picked off at third on a snap throw by the Monk's catcher, Jennifer Murphy.
Dominican's
Haley Locher (Lisle, Ill.) pitched around a one-out walk in the fourth and both team's went down in order in the fifth.
In the top of the sixth, Burns lined a two-out double to left center but was stranded when Rea was set down on strikes.
After Locher pitched a perfect sixth for the Stars, St. Joseph's College worked around a two-out walk to send the game to the last of the seventh tied.
Ramos singled to center to start the seventh for the Monks and was sacrificed to second. After an infield single, the Monks loaded the bases when a pinch hitter, Kelsy Gaddy, singled to left to set the table for Mayhew.
Locher went the distance for Dominican, surrendering just six hits and two walks over six-plus innings in taking the loss for the Stars. The junior right-hander allowed just two earned runs in the losing effort.
Burns and Rea had three hits apiece for Dominican, with Rea extending her hitting streak dating back to 2014 to 15 games. Hausl added two hits of her own as Dominican pounded out ten hits in the game.
Game Two: Dominican 6, Wilmington 2
Trailing 2-0 and after leaving the bases loaded in the top of fourth, the Dominican offense finally broke through in the fifth, taking a 3-2 lead thanks to an RBI single by Burns that scored both Hausl and
Ali Woitovich (Downers Grove, Ill.) with two outs in the inning. Burns then came around to score the go ahead run after a pair of hit batters followed by a walk to
Siena Gyure (Crown Point, Ind.), who was on to pinch hit for the Stars.
The Stars then added three runs in the top of the sixth with Burns right there in the mix for Dominican. Woitovich laid down a suicide squeeze, plating Hausl, before Burns singled to push across Domico.
Catherine Conte (Elmwood Park, Ill.) then capped the scoring as she roped a ground rule double to left to score Woitovich.
Sarah Slouber (Willow Springs, Ill.) picked up the complete-game victory in the circle for Dominican, surrendering two unearned runs on six hits and five walks while striking out nine.
At the plate, Burns and Hausl picked up three hits apiece while Rea extended her hitting streak to 16 games with one-out single in the third.
The Stars return to the diamonds on Monday, taking on Nazareth College and Suffolk University at the Gene Cusic Classic.
