CC 4, BC 2
CC 2, BC 1
CALDWELL, N.J. - The Caldwell College softball team won a pair of Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference games against Bloomfield College, 4-2 and 2-1 Tuesday afternoon at Caldwell Field. The Cougars improve to 18-5 overall and 8-0 in the conference with the victories, while the Lady Deacons drop to 15-10, 2-4 CACC.
Caldwell got things started early in the first game, scoring three times in the bottom of the first inning. Junior Dia Cascone (Staten Island, NY/Susan Wagner) led off with a single and then scored on a double by freshman Kristen Knorr (Monroeville, NJ/Delsea Reg.). Freshman Briana Gaspich (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) singled home Knorr, then came home on a triple by freshman Alyssa Calderon (Fontana, CA/Etiwanda) for a 3-0 lead.
After Bloomfield scored twice in the top of the third, the Cougars made it a two-run lead in the bottom of the third on a single by Calderon that plated Knorr to make the score 4-2. Junior pitcher Kourtney Wilson (Islip, NY/St. Anthony's) did the rest, retiring 12 of the next 13 batters to clinch the victory. Wilson allowed a total of six hits and two run while striking out two in seven innings to improve to 9-2.
In the second game, the Lady Deacons scored a run on a single by Krystina Poloni in the top of the third for a 1-0 lead. Pitcher Alexandria Smith kept the Cougars hitless into the fourth inning until Gaspich blasted a two-out, solo home run over the left field fence to tie the game at 1-1. Then in the fifth, freshman Sara Zambelli (West Milford, NJ/West Milford) led off the inning with a single, and senior Katie Margiotta (Sewell, NJ/Washington Twp.) hit a one-out triple to right that scored Zambelli with the go-ahead run.
Bloomfield loaded the bases in the sixth, but freshman pitcher Sarah Almasy (Stratford, NJ/Sterling) got out of the jam with a pop-up. With two out and a runner on first in the top of the seventh, Poloni hit a double into right centerfield. The Lady Deacons tried to score the runner from first, but the Cougars threw the runner out at home, Knorr to Cascone to Calderon, for the game's final out.
Almasy (5-1) scattered eight hits and allowed one run while fanning six and walking two in seven innings of work. Smith gave up three hits and two runs in six innings, and Poloni recorded three hits for Bloomfield.
Caldwell hosts the University of New Haven in a non-conference doubleheader on Thursday, Mar. 29. The first pitch is set for 2:30 p.m. at Caldwell Field.
