Press Release Written by Nathan Foltz
NEW CASTLE, Del. - - The Wilmington University softball team snapped its 13-game losing streak on Friday with a 5-4 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas, but then dropped the nightcap, 2-1, to split the doubleheader at Asbury Field.
Wilmington now sits at 4-16 on the year, with one more non-conference matchup to go before CACC play starts.
The Wildcats used some late runs and a seventh-inning tightrope act in Game 1 to snap their skid but found themselves on the wrong end of a pitchers' duel in Game 2, with the only run coming on Maddie Vollmar's second home run of the afternoon, albeit of the inside-the-park variety.
GAME 1:
The Wildcats put pressure on the Spartans with baserunners in every inning, starting in the first on an Addison Sabo double. She was stranded at third, though, and STAC responded with a solo home run in the top of the second to take a 1-0 lead.
Wilmington bounced back with their own run in the bottom of the second, which came across when Maddie Vollmar scored on a fielder's choice bunt by Cassidy Zelano. Vollmar scored again in the fourth, but this time she drove herself in with a leadoff homer to make it 2-1. STAC responded with three runs in the fifth on a double, single, and wild pitch, putting Wilmington in a two-run hole. They got one run back in the bottom of the inning with a Mia Lane RBI double, then plated two more in the sixth with small ball by Caroline Scott and Rylee Maloney to retake the lead.
Things got dicey in the seventh, as the Spartans started the inning with two infield singles. Olivia Hitchens wiggled out of it, though, picking up the first out on a sac bunt before inducing two pop-ups to Zelano at short to strand the tying run at third and the go-ahead run at second.
Maddie Vollmar threw the first 4.1 innings, allowing four runs (two earned) on six hits with a walk and a strikeout. Hitchens then came in to finish it off, pitching 2.2 scoreless frames, only allowing the two seventh-inning singles.
Sabo, Lane, and Vollmar all hit doubles in the game, with Vollmar tacking on a homer. She joined Haley Grygo, playing in her first game of the season, as the only Wildcats with multiple hits.
GAME 2:
There was hardly any offense to speak of in the second game of the day, as STAC and Wilmington's pitchers combined to only allow three runs on five hits. The Spartans' first hit of the game came on another solo homer in the top of the fourth, but Maddie Vollmar answered with one of her own in the bottom of the inning, though hers was an inside-the-parker after STAC's left fielder suffered an injury trying to make a play on the ball down the line.
Kasey Xenidis cruised through the next two innings against the Spartan offense with six up six down, but the seventh inning proved problematic once again for the Wildcats. STAC singled to start the inning before driving in the runner on a double, but some heads-up defense prevented any more runs from crossing the plate. Wilmington didn't have much of a response in the bottom of the seventh, however, with a two-out walk left stranded at first to end the game.
Xenidis' final line with the hard luck loss was two runs on three hits with one walk and four strikeouts over seven innings.
Angelina Edwards had the only other hit, a second-inning double.
UP NEXT:
The Wildcats' final doubleheader before conference play begins will come on Wednesday against Adelphi. The action starts at 2:00 pm at Asbury Field.