Press Release Written by Nathan Foltz
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - - A 7-3 victory on Sunday in Philadelphia by the fifth-seeded Wilmington University softball team sent fourth-seeded Holy Family packing and the Wildcats onto the next round of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament.
Wilmington beat Holy Family 2-0 in the best-of-three First Round series, also defeating the Tigers yesterday by a score of 6-2. They will be one of four teams that will participate in the double-elimination segment of the conference tournament at Asbury Field in New Castle, starting on Thursday.
Similar to Game 1, the bats provided a first-inning lead on Sunday, and the pitching never gave it up, though Game 2's early offensive action was a little more explosive. Hailey Trapani led off the game by getting on base again, this time on a double in the gap. Cassidy Zelano followed with an RBI single to center, making it 1-0 in the blink of an eye. Mia Lane singled and swiped second two batters later, and then Addison Sabo dealt the biggest blow of the series - a three-run homer to left center that made it 4-0 Wildcats.
The Tigers didn't go away easily, though, leading off the bottom of the first with a homer to cut into the deficit. They didn't score any more in the frame, however, and Lane got the run back in the top of the second with a two-out RBI single.
Rylee Maloney made it 6-1 with a two-out RBI single of her own in the top of the third, but Holy Family was able to chip away a bit more in the bottom of the inning against Maddie Vollmar. The Tigers loaded the bases with one out, prompting a pitching change to Olivia Hitchens. A wild pitch on the first batter Hitchens faced allowed the second Tiger run of the day to score, and then the next batter hit a sac fly before the third out was recorded with a pop-up to short.
With the score sitting at 6-3, neither team was able to do much of anything over the middle innings. A fourth-inning double by Holy Family was the only hit from the fourth to sixth innings by either team, though some walks and Tiger errors kept things interesting. The scoring drought broke in the seventh, when Kasey Xenidis helped herself out with an RBI single that scored Sabo from second to make it 7-3.
Xenidis was looking for the three-inning save in the bottom of the inning and got it easily, picking up a punch out in a 1-2-3 seventh to seal the series. All told, she struck out three in three frames, only allowing one baserunner on a full count walk. Hitchens got the win, throwing 1.2 innings between Vollmar and Xenidis, allowing a hit with a pair of walks and a K. Vollmar struck out three, allowing three runs on four hits and two walks in 2.1 IP.
Hailey Trapani hit well out of the leadoff spot, going 2-4 with a pair of doubles. Mia Lane went 2-4 as well, driving in a run, and Addison Sabo had a team-high three RBI on the day while going 2-3 with a homer.
Next up for the Wildcats is a date with Caldwell on Thursday in the first game of the CACC Tournament double-elimination bracket. They'll take on the Cougars at Asbury Field at 11:00 a.m., looking to take the next step towards four-peating as CACC Champs.