SALEM, Va. (3/1/14) – The Kean University softball team blasted Catholic University 8-0 in its first action of 2014 and then overcame an early deficit to top in-state rival Centenary College 7-2 and complete its Opening Day sweep on Saturday.
Kean is 2-0 on the year; the Cardinals fell to 1-1 and Centenary is 0-2 after the three schools completed their round-robin.
Game One vs. Catholic
After Emily Sabo worked a walk in her first collegiate plate appearance and Sandra Binkiewicz also followed with a free pass, the Cougars had runners at the corners with two outs in the top of the first. Kean called a double steal, and Sabo's hook slide around the catcher allowed her to score and staked the Cougars to a 1-0 lead.
Courtney Yard struck out the first hitter she faced this season on three-straight pitches, and went on to work a 1-2-3 first. Yard (pictured left) stayed perfect until she surrendered a bloop single in the bottom half of the third.
But before that, in the top of the third, Jill Martin and Megan Cegielski had back-to-back singles to start the frame. Sabo sacrificed them to scoring position, and a one-out line drive up the middle by Binkiewicz scored both runners as the Cougars lept out ahead by three.
Kean struck again in the fourth inning; Alexis D'Aloisio smacked a double to the left-centerfield wall and came around to score on a single by Cegielski to make the score 4-0.
Yard helped her own cause in the fifth with Kean's first homerun of the year: a line-drive solo shot over the leftfield fence.
Catholic had its best scoring chance in the home half of the fifth. The Cardinals had two runners in scoring position with two outs, but Yard got Catholic's cleanup hitter to fly out to Binkiewicz in centerfield to end the threat.
In the top of the seventh, Kelly Moorehead lifted a 2-RBI double over the rightfielder's head and came around to score the Cougars' eighth run on a passed ball. Yard worked a quick 1-2-3 seventh to earn the shutout in Kean's first win of the season.
Game Two vs. Centenary
Batting first, the Cyclones used three hits – including an RBI double by Kim Kopesky – to take an early 1-0 lead.
In the home half of the second, freshman Amanda Berezny knocked a single. With two outs, Martin drove her in to tie the game and then came around to score herself on a Centenary error. Kean loaded the bases again but could not push across any more runs.
The Cougars were able to tack on another run in their next turn at bat. Moorehead started the inning with a triple, and Berezny chased her home with a long sac fly to center for a 3-1 advantage.
In the fourth, Sabo singled while Martin and Yard socked doubles. The Cougars used those three hits to score three more runs and move their cushion to five.
Centenary was able to scratch across one more run in the sixth, but Kean used a leadoff triple by Sabo and a two-out RBI single by D'Aloisio to answer right back.
Sabo reached base in all four of her plate appearances in the second game, while Moorehead, Martin and Binkiewicz each finished the day hitting .500.
Junior Rebecca Rotola was effecetive in her first start for the Cougars since 2012. The Linden native scattered six hits in her seven innings of work with three strikeouts.
Kean will return to the Moyer Softball Complex on Sunday to wrap up the Beach Blast in the Mountains and take on Roanoke College and SUNY New Paltz beginning at 9 a.m.
