WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – After splitting a doubleheader series with King's College on Saturday afternoon, the Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham softball team clinched the third seed in the MAC Freedom Tournament.
This marks the third time in four years that the Devils will be participating in postseason play.
Game 1 (FDU-Florham 5, King's 1)
The first game of the doubleheader was highlighted by a stellar pitching performance by senior Sydney Worek, who picked up her 12th win of the season. She hurled a strong seven innings, only surrendering one earned run while striking out six.
At the plate for the Devils, leadoff speedster Marlena Bevilacqua tallied three hits in the game with a run scored and a stolen base. Senior Nikki Caruso also recorded three hits, while fellow senior Wynne McCann went 2-for-3 with three RBIs.
The Devils had two runners on in the first inning once Paige Lillie drew a base on balls and Caruso doubled to right field. McCann was due up next and she blasted the ball over the fence in left-center for a three-run home run.
King's plated a run in the bottom half of the second on a solo home run by Alizabeth Ellsworth, but Worek shook it off and continued to dominate.
In the fourth inning Courtney Rohde singled down the left field line and later came around to score on a bases loaded walk by Lillie.
The Devils added one final run in the sixth. Bevilacqua got on base with a one-out single to right-center. After stealing second, she came in to score on a Caruso RBI single to center.
The Monarchs managed to get two runners on in the bottom half of the seventh, but Worek worked out of the jam and the Devils took game one by a score of 5-1.
Game 2 (King's 6, FDU-Florham 5)
The final game of the series featured more offense from both sides and the two teams combined to score 11 runs on 22 hits.
The Devils were led by sophomore Taylor Torre, who batted 3-for-4 with an RBI. Caruso and Rohde also recorded a multi-hit game.
Once again it was the Devils who jumped out to the early lead. In the first inning, Caruso singled through the left side and later came in to score on a Torre RBI single into right-center.
It remained a one-run game until the fourth inning, when the Devils' offense got in rhythm. Rohde and Jaclyn Herrington led things off with back-to-back singles. Two batters later, Bevilacqua came up and bunted. On the play, a throwing error was committed and Rohde scored.
Lillie was the next batter up for the Devils and she hit a two-RBI single up the middle and the Devils grabbed a 4-0 lead.
The Monarchs plated a run in the bottom half of the inning but the Devils got the run back in the top of the fifth once Rodhe took the ball and lifted it over the fence in left-center for a solo shot.
Trailing by four runs heading into the bottom of the fifth, the Monarchs' bats caught fire. The Monarchs hit six singles and scored six runs in the inning to grab their first lead of the afternoon.
The Devils got two batters on in the seventh once Torre singled and Rodhe drew a base on balls, but King's was able to hang on and prevent any runs from scoring.
The MAC Freedom Tournament will be hosted by Wilkes University this year. FDU-Florham will face off against Misericordia University in the opening round on Friday, May 5 at noon.
