Softball

Wilkes University 5, Delaware Valley 4 (Game 1 - 11 innings)
Wilkes University 9, Delaware Valley 3 (Game 2)

DOYLESTOWN (PA) - The Wilkes University softball team received strong pitching performances from Jen Trate and Maryellen Korty as the Lady Colonels swept a Freedom Conference doubleheader from host Delaware Valley College on Monday. Wilkes took the first game 5-4 in 11 innings, then earned a 9-3 triumph in the nightcap.

The Lady Colonels improved to 7-6 overall and 3-3 in conference play while the Aggies fell to 5-5 overall and 0-4 in the Freedom Conference.

Trate (3-4) allowed just one earned run and struck out five in 11 innings of play in the opener while Korty (4-2) went the distance in the second game and allowed three runs with three strikeouts.

Wilkes scored two run in the first inning of the opener on an error and a RBI single by Melissa Babcock. Delaware Valley got a run back in the bottom of the first as Beth Sander singled, advanced to second on a ground out and scored on an RBI single by Wendy Strohl.

It stayed a 2-1 ballgame until the bottom of the sixth when Alison Suttie hit a one-out single for the Aggies and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. One batter later, Suttie scored the tying run off a Wikes error.

The two teams went into extra innings and it remained 2-2 until the 10th inning when a runner is automatically placed on second base to start an inning. The Lady Colonels struck first in the 10th as Jan Nunemacher's single scored the runner. However, the Aggies answered in their half of the inning as Jackie Neil ripped a one-out single into center field to knock in the tying run.

In the 11th, Nadine Taylor drove in a run with a single and, two batter later, Andrea Dominick added an RBI single to left field to give Wilkes a 5-4 lead. It was Dominick's third hit of the game. The Aggies tried to rally and got one run on a two-out, RBI single by Tammy Banks but Trate got Jen Welsh to line out to third to end the game.

Jennifer Moyer suffered the loss and fell to 3-2 despite allowing just one earned run (runs scored after the 10th inning are all unearned) and nine hits in 11 innings of work. Neil, Sander and Banks each went 2-for-5 for the Aggies.

The nightcap saw Wilkes jump out to a 7-1 lead after three innings. The Lady Colonels came out and scored three runs in the first with the big blow being a two-out- two-run single by Alexis Petite. Maria Ciechoski had an RBI triple in the second and scored on a Dominick single to make it 5-0 while Dominick drove in one of the two runs in the third with a sacrifice fly. Delaware Valley's lone run in the first innings came on an RBI single by Lindsay Eversole in the second.

The Aggies got back in the game in the fourth as Strohl and Banks had RBI singles to make it a 7-3 ballgame. However, that was as close as they would come in the game. The Lady Colonels put it away in the seventh as Brooke Shreaves ripped a two-run homer over the left-center field fence.

Dominick. Petite and Shreaves finished with two RBIs apiece for Wilkes. Suttie, Banks and Katie Leach each went 2-for-3 for Delaware Valley. Casey Bidlingmaier lasted just one inning (plus three batters in the second) and fell to 1-3 on the season. Strohl was solid in relief and allowed just two earned runs in six innings of work.