PHILADELPHIA – Trailing 3-0 in the nightcap after a 2-0 game one loss, the USciences softball team came back in emphatic fashion for a 9-4 triumph at Holy Family that kept the Devils' playoff hopes alive on Tuesday afternoon.
University of the Sciences' 10 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) victories this season are tied for its most since it had a program record 17 in 2013.
Danielle Jones and Gabrielle Simms both finished the day with four base-knocks, two doubles, two runs and two RBI, with Jones adding a hit-by-pitch and Simms a walk.
Game Two
Trailing 4-3 entering the fifth following a Holy Family run in the fourth, Taylor Hamm led off with a single. An error was sandwiched between two fielder's choices, proving important as the inning was extended for Miranda Rodriguez's two-RBI single that turned out to be the game-winning run.
After a 1-2-3 bottom-half, USciences broke the game open with a four-run sixth that began with an Abbigail Markee walk. Singles by Simms and Hamm sandwiched an Ashley Steiner sacrifice bunt, the latter doubling the Devils' advantage. Jones and Nina Cencetti then followed the second out with back-to-back RBI base-knocks; a double and two-RBI single that closed out the scoring.
Megan Master closed out her eighth complete game of the year with three straight scoreless frames. She worked around nine hits, striking out six with no base on balls.
Simms highlighted four Devils with multiple base-knocks with her fourth three-hit game of the year as she went 3-for-5 with two doubles, two runs and a two-RBI double that tied the score at 3-3 in the fourth.
The senior now ranks second in program history with 92 career runs and fourth all-tie with 153 career hits, while her 12 doubles and 52 hits this year, the latter of which are two behind Markee, rank second and third in the program's Division II era.
Simms and Markee also rank tied for fourth in the program's Division IIs era with 31 runs, while their 17 and 14 walks respectively rank tied for third and tied for eighth.
Jones also had two hits, a double, two runs and two RBI.
Steiner and Hamm were the other two Devils with two hits, with Hamm adding a base on balls. Steiner got USciences on the board with an RBI single in the third, while a Hamm groundout made the score 6-4 in the sixth.
Hamm's RBI was her 24th of the year, now tied for seventh in the program's Division II era.
Rodriguez and Lauren Del Giudice both reached base twice too, with Rodriguez walking and Del Giudice singling in the fourth before both came in on Simms' double.
Holy Family took the lead with yet another home run, this one of the three-run variety in the second.
University of the Sciences began its comeback in the third, with back-to-back one-out base-knocks by Simms (double) and Steiner (single) plating the Devils' first run.
Game One
A two-run homer that followed a leadoff hit-by-pitch in the bottom of the third was the only scoring.
That was all Paige Schlechter allowed in her fifth complete game of the year. She scattered five hits, striking out with no walks, while retiring eight of the final nine batters she faced.
University of the Sciences stranded a runner in 6-of-7 innings, including two in the first, as the Devils out-hit HFU 6-5.
Jones finished a perfect 2-for-2 with a hit-by-pitch, including leading off the top of the seventh with a double, while Markee went 2-for-4, leading off both the first and third with singles while adding a stolen base in the opening frame.
Simms also reached base twice with a first inning base on balls and third inning single.
Up Next
University of the Sciences faces another city-rival on Saturday, hosting Chestnut Hill in its season-finale at 1 p.m. Prior to first pitch, the Devils will honor the Senior Class of 2022.
