PLEASANTVILLE, New York - The American International College softball team used big innings to power past defending Northeast 10 Conference and East Region Champion Pace University 5-1 and 6-5 on Wednesday, April 8.
AIC is now 9-19 overall and 5-11 on the season.
In the first game, neither team scored until AIC erupted for five runs in the sixth frame.
Nevaeh Trejo started with a one-out double, and scored on the next play after
Morgan Bemont's single to right was bobbled.
Brooklyn Cividanes walked, and then after a flyout,
Macey Burns loaded the bases with an infield hit.
Julia Krijgsman drove in a run with a single through the left side.
AIC's inning continued because of a mishandle at shortstop, and not only did a run score there, but
Isabel Kahli Robinson made it hurt with an RBI single. The fifth run came home as Krijgsman made her way to the dish on a passed ball.
That was more than enough offense for
Gabrielle Lambert, who allowed a double to drive in a run in the home half as the only blemish on a complete game win.
Pace did take an early lead in game two with a run that was unearned in the first, but
Marilyn Augusta countered with her first collegiate home run in the second, blasting a solo shot to left to tie the game. That lasted until the third, when a double, flyout, and wild pitch plated a second Setters run.
The score remained 2-1 until the last inning, when AIC's offense woke up. Burns smacked a double to right and scored on a liner up the middle by
Brianna Salazar.
Jilien Ayala and Trejo then smacked back-to-back doubles, with Trejo's driving in Salazar and Ayala to put AIC ahead 4-2. Cividanes walked, and then Augusta cracked a double off the wall in center field to score Trejo and Cividanes.
The Setters were determined not to go without a fight, and took advantage of a pair of errors to score, alongside three hits. With the winning run at second base, however, they ran out of steam, as Krijgsman won a seven-pitch battle to force a flyout and end the game.
Trejo's three doubles in the second contest marked the first time in 15 years that AIC had a player hit three doubles in one game; Trejo and Augusta, who had two doubles in addition to their home run, are just the second pair of teammates in the NE10 this season to both have three extra-base hits in the same game.
AIC returns home Saturday, April 11 at 12:00 p.m. to face Bentley in the first two of a four-game series at Judy Groff Field.
