CALDWELL, N.J. - The Caldwell College softball team dropped a pair of games to Dominican College in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference doubleheader Tuesday afternoon at a chilly Caldwell Field. The Cougars lost the first game, 5-4 in eight innings, then fell 3-0 in the second game to drop to 5-13 overall and 1-3 in league play. The Lady Chargers are now 16-8, 6-0 CACC.
Caldwell jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning of the first game on a two-run double by senior Patti Garofolo (Collegeville, PA/Springford). After Shelby Wassman led off the top of the second with a home run for Dominican, the Cougars regained a two-run lead in the bottom of the fourth, when sophomore Sierra Parker (Chino Hills, CA/Chino Hills) singled home junior Rebecca Ashley (Bellingham, MA/Mt. St. Charles) for a 3-1 advantage. Dominican tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the fifth off a solo homer by Brielle Kersher and a run-scoring single from Julie Plante. Caldwell answered in the bottom of the fifth, as sophomore Dia Cascone (Staten Island, NY/Susan Wagner) led off with a double and later scored on a single by freshman Mariah Lucena (Belleville, NJ/Belleville) for a 4-3 lead. Again, Dominican came back to tie the score in the top of the sixth. Neither team scored through the final two innings, forcing extra innings.
In the top of the eighth, Kersher led off with a double, moved to third on a bunt and came home on a grounder to short by Delaney Childers to give Dominican a 5-4 lead. Sophomore Cassandra Cefolo (Florham Park, NJ/Hanover Park) got Caldwell off to a good start in the bottom of the eighth with a double, then moved to third on a groundout. But with the tying run on third with one out, the Cougars could not get the key hit, as pitcher Katrina Pistilli retired the final two batters on grounders. Senior Brittany Pulido (Ojai, CA/Nordhoff) went the distance for Caldwell, allowing 14 hits while walking three in eight innings. Garofolo and Cefolo had two hits apiece in the loss. For Dominican, Pistilli gave up eight hits, walked three and struck out two in a complete-game effort.
The Cougars ran into a hot pitcher in the second game, as Childers surrendered just four hits while striking out 12 without a walk to earn the shutout. Dominican scored single runs in the second, fifth and seventh innings en route to the victory. Sophomore Kourtney Wilson (Islip, NY/St. Anthony) absorbed the loss for Caldwell, allowing three runs on 11 hits while striking out five and walking two in seven innings. Cefolo, pictured, ended up with three hits on the day.
The Cougars take on the University of New Haven on Wednesday, Mar. 30 in a non-conference doubleheader. The first game starts at 3:00 p.m. in West Haven, Conn.
