Big First Inning Lifts Softball
By Ryan Gaydos
@KUTowerSports
Down but not out seems to be the mantra for the Kean University softball team in the postseason. With one loss against them already in the NCAA Tournament, the Cougars are fighting to stay alive and had to play the College of Staten Island in an elimination game Friday morning.
A huge first inning for the Cougars was the difference maker in the game. Kean pushed five runs across the plate against the Dolphins and won the game 8-3.
Katie Schuh and Meghan Cegielski started things off with a couple singles, then Courtney Yard opened it up with a two-run single. Next, Courtney Melchionna hit a two-run double down the third base line to continue the scoring. Finally, catcher Jill Martin ended the first with an RBI to total five runs.
Yard added one more run in the fourth. Cegielski added a home run in the sixth and that was more then enough for Kean as Melchionna scored on a Casey Glatts double.
Yard got the win and moves to 19-14 this season. She allowed three runs–two earned–on eight hits striking out two batters. The three runs were allowed in the sixth and seventh innings.
Cegielski went 2-for-4 on the day with three runs and an RBI. Her two hits breaks the single-season school record of 64, which was set by Tina Rivera in 1992. Cegielski has 65 hits this season.
The Cougars move on to play the loser of Virginia Wesleyan and Susquehanna. The game will take place Saturday at 1 P.M.