MADISON, N.J. – To close out an eight-game home stand, the Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham softball team split a pair of non-conference games with New York University on Saturday afternoon for Senior Day at McManus Field.
Game 1 (FDU-Florham 5, NYU 3)
The Devils opened up the afternoon by having all nine starters record a hit in the team's 5-3 victory over the Violets.
Senior Nikki Caruso and sophomore Michelle Mangini each hit a home run and tallied three RBIs and two runs scored.
Meanwhile, senior Sydney Worek got the start on the mound and she picked up her ninth win of the season by striking out nine batters and only surrendering three runs in a complete-game performance.
In the top half of the second inning the Violets were threatening with a runner on second with no outs but Worek worked out of the jam by striking out the next three batters.
The Violets got to Worek in the fourth though and plated three runs to grab a 3-0 lead over the Devils.
In the bottom half of the inning Mangini stepped up to the plate and sent the ball over the left field fence for a solo shot to cut the deficit to two.
The Devils offense caught fire in the fifth inning and following a Paige Lillie walk, Caruso hit a two-run homer to knot the game up at three apiece.
Two batters later, Taylor Torre shot a single into left field and Courtney Rohde followed that up with a double into left center. On the play, there was a throwing error committed by a Violets' fielder and Torre was able to score.
After the Violets recorded the second out of the inning, Jaclyn Herrington recorded an RBI single to put the Devils up 5-3.
Worek made quick work of the Violets in the sixth and in the final inning of play she was able to successfully get out of a jam to give FDU-Florham the 5-3 win.
Game 2 (NYU 15, FDU-Florham 6 --- 6 Innings)
The second game of the series featured a plethora of offense as the two teams combined to record 32 hits. However, it was the Violets (11-13) who came out on top over the Devils (14-10) with a 15-6 victory.
Caruso batted a perfect 4-for-4 with three RBIs and a run scored while seniors Wynne McCann and Jacquelyn Tartaglia each recorded two hits.
After the first inning of play, the Violets had grabbed a 5-0 lead but the Devils began to chip into the deficit in the bottom half of the inning. Lillie drew a base on balls and Caruso then came up and hit a two-run home run over the fence in left-center.
The Violets added a pair of runs in the second and once again the Devils were quick to counter. With two runners on base, Lillie shot a single through the left side of the infield and a run crossed the plate for FDU-Florham.
Caruso was due up next and she took the pitch and shot it through the right side for an RBI single to make it a 7-5 game.
NYU went on to add eight runs over the course of the next four innings of play and the lead was now extended to 10 runs.
In the final inning of play sophomore Frannie Jarin drew a base on balls and she later came in to score on a Rebecca DeCarlo RBI single to left field.
The game came to a close though on the very next at-bat and NYU took the second game of the series.
The Devils will return to the field on Wednesday, April 20 for a road non-conference doubleheader against Kean University at 3 p.m.
