Jennifer Hoffer – Sports Writer –
The Owls softball team hoped to break the two game skid they had coming out of their games in Clermont, Fla.
They returned home to play their first two home games against Stonehill College in a double-header on Friday.
The game against Stonehill was also the Owls’ first Northeast-10 Conference game of the season for the Owls.
Sophomore pitcher Kelsey Cockrill had three strikeouts in the Owls win.
The Owls had a 3-1 lead after the third inning with RBI’s by senior Kristin Whitley and junior Kaley Marden.
Stonehill was shut out for most of the second game.
Junior outfielder Julie Muscarella had four hits and three RBIs in the double-header against Stonehill.
They came away with just one run against freshman pitcher Jessica Van Alphen, who came out victor with a complete game under her belt, striking out nine batters.
The Owls’ run support came with the help of the bat of senior Kate Hoffman, who had a two-run home run in the fifth inning, giving the Owls a 5-0 lead going in to the sixth.
The Owls went on to defeat Stonehill 5-1.
Cockrill took the mound for the first game of the double-header against Assumption on Sunday.
She went the full seven innings, recording five strikeouts and no runs given up.
The bulk of the Owls’ runs came during the fifth and sixth innings. In the fifth, Brittany Bucko and Julie Muscarella both homered.
The Owls entered the sixth inning with a 3-0 lead where Muscarella tacked on another RBI, giving her two RBI’s on the day.
The Owls went on to win by a score of 5-0.
They dropped the second game of a double-header on Sunday at home against Assumption College by a score of 5-4. The game was tied almost the entire time.
Pitcher Yesenia Everisto started the game by hitting Assumption batter Robidoux.
Robidoux would eventually come around to score later that inning off a double by Mederoros.
The Owls got one back that same inning as Bucko laced a homer to center field.
Assumption picked up three runs in the top of the fifth.
But the Owls did not go down quietly. They followed with three runs in the bottom of the fifth, tying the game at four.
The inning consisted of two back-to-back fielding errors by Assumption players.
With two players on base, Alyssa Downs came to the plate and laced a double, which scored Nicole Buch.
After a pitching change that inning, Muscarella singled to the left side to bring in Downs and Mitchell.
At the end of fifth, the game was tied at four.
Downs said that she was pleased with how strong the team came out, especially the starters.
“Today, we came through with the bats and our pitching was great,” Downs said. “We just need to improve on defense, but for the first weekend home, I think we did a pretty good job overall.”
The Owls would eventually lose the lead and the game as leadoff hitter Robidoux would homer off Everisto with two outs.
The Owls travel to Caldwell, N.J., to take on Caldwell College for a double-header on Tuesday.
