Rosemont, IL – The Dominican University softball team hosted Mount Mary University Wednesday evening in a double-header matchup taking game one 3-0 before dropping game two 5-4.
Game One:
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Megan Hufnagle reached first off of a walk. Makayla Barnes followed with a bunt single advancing Huffnagle to second. Huffnagle and Barnes each advanced one base after a passed ball before a pinch hit single to left field by Lavin Catrambone brought Hufnagle and Barnes across home plate to give Dominican a 2-0 lead.
A fielder's choice by Mount Mary allowed Cecilia Winters-McCarthy to reach first. Olivia Johnson came into pinch hit and hit a double to left-center allowing Winters-McCarthy to advance to third before scoring on an error by the Blue Angels to extend the Stars lead to 3-0. Mount Mary went three up and three down in the top of the seventh to seal the 3-0 win for the Stars.
Offensively in game one, the Stars had three runs off of five hits. Allyson Dilday pitched a gem with a season-high 10 strikeouts and just one walk. Defensively, the Stars had a clean game committing zero errors.
Stars Head Coach
Cristina Lukas commented on Dilday's performance, "Ally was in total command of game one. We were able to manufacture three runs off a strong Mount Mary pitcher and had a solid win."
Game Two:
Mount Mary scored quickly in game two in the top of the second inning bringing two runners around giving them an early 2-0 lead. The Stars would then respond in the bottom of the fourth when Malia Gilles singled to left allowing Kellie Fabbri to cross home plate to cut the score to 2-1. Olivia Johnson then reached on an error by Mount Mary while bringing Wilsterman home to make it two apiece.
The Blue Angels scored a run in the top of the fifth and sixth inning to extend their lead to 4-2. Johnson singled to right field before advancing after Julia Orozco was walked. A pinch hit single to right field by Winters-McCarthy brought Johnson and Orozco home to tie the score at 4-4. Mount Mary would respond in the top of the seventh to seal the win with a final score of 5-4.
Offensively in game two Dominican had four runs off of six hits. Malia Gilles led the Stars with two hits in the game.
"We struggled to score early and chased a lot of bad pitches", said Lukas. "Brenna threw her best game of the year and put us in a position to win. Our execution on situational hitting needs to improve. We have big games this weekend and we will be working hard to get ready for them."
The Stars return to action Saturday, April 10th when they travel to Benedictine University for a double-header matchup with a start time of 12:00 p.m. for game one.
