By Bridget Dolan
NEWARK — It was cold and windy Saturday, with gusts straight down the middle as starting pitcher Sarah Piening led the Blue Hens in their home-opening doubleheader against Mount St. Mary’s at the Delaware Softball Diamond.
Despite the blustery condition, the stands were full — even with fans from both sides bundled up in blankets and puffer jackets — leaving some fans left to stand on the fence line to watch.
But that didn’t stop the Blue Hens from winning the first game of the doubleheader with six runs, keeping the Mountaineers to just one.
The first game started slow but heated up at the bottom of the third inning when the Blue Hens scored their first two runs by outfielder Ali Davis and third baseman Halle Kisamore. Shortly after, Mount St. Mary’s countered with a run scored by second baseman Morgan Alisauckas.
In the bottom of the fourth, Delaware retaliated, scoring four runs. Second baseman Brittney Mendoza, shortstop Karolina Flores, outfielder Reyna de Jesus and infielder Sarah Bessel all ran home, bringing the team’s lead from two to five. The Blue Hens kept the Mountaineers scoreless for the next three innings to close out the first game.
At bat, Mendoza led the team with three hits and a batting average of .379 while Kisamore had three runs batted in.
“My mentality is just anything up in the zone and around the plate, I’m just going to swing,” Mendoza said. Mendoza led the team with five hits during six times at bat throughout both games.
Delaware split the doubleheader — the Blue Hens had yet to sweep a doubleheader prior to Sunday’s games against Coppin State University.
“We start really high, and then we can’t get going again for game two,” Steele said afterwards.
During the second game, it was Maddi Marsh up first against the wind as she pitched for the Blue Hens.
Pitching would be the Blue Hens’ downfall in the second game, leading to a 7-3 loss after two pitching changes that eventually resulted in Piening returning to the mound for the seventh inning.
“Game two, we just didn’t have pitching in the fifth, sixth and seventh inning,” Steele said. “We gave up a few free passes, we had some defensive miscues where we didn’t know where we wanted to go with the softball and then we hung a pitch — late. And so, when you have all three of those things happen with the last nine outs of the game, you’re going to see the scoreboard not kind of go in your favor.”
Mount St. Mary’s Katie Olson pitched for the first two innings of the second game. She would pick up some dust from the rear of the pitching circle, let it fall through her fingers and proceed to pitch. It was during Olson’s last inning of the game that the Delaware scored their only three runs after Mount St. Mary’s scored two at the top of the second.
Designated player Anna Steinmetz, Flores and Mendoza scored the three runs for the team in the second game.
Avery Neuhart then took the mound for the Mountaineers and kept the Blue Hens scoreless for the remainder of the game. The Mountaineers scored their final runs in the sixth and seventh innings.
In the first game, the Blue Hens outhit the Mountaineers 13-7, but were outhit 12-8 in the second game as the Mountaineers made a roaring comeback.
Delaware softball is now 10-12 on the season, and their next game will be against Lehigh University at 3 p.m. at the Delaware Softball Diamond.