Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
CALDWELL, N.J. - The Caldwell College softball team defeated the University of the Sciences, 3-1 and 9-5 in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Caldwell Field. The victories marked the end of the regular season for the Cougars, who are 39-10 overall and 23-3 in conference play. The Devils are now 23-17, 17-9 CACC.

Caldwell's 39 regular-season wins are the second-most in the program's history, behind only the 2010 squad that won 40 games. The 23 conference victories tie the team's mark set in 2010. The Cougars finished in second place in the CACC standings and will play seventh-place Bloomfield College in the first round of the CACC Tournament on May 2.

USciences took an early 1-0 lead in Game 1 on a solo home run by Erin Summers in the top of the first inning. Caldwell answered in the bottom of the first with a sacrifice fly by sophomore Alyssa Calderon (Fontana, CA/Etiwanda) that scored sophomore Kristen Knorr (Monroeville, NJ/Delsea). Then in the third, senior Amy Leal (New Bedford, MA/Bishop Stang) came home on a grounder by freshman Brielle Reighn (Runnemeade, NJ/Triton Reg.), and Knorr scored on a wild pitch for a 3-1 lead.

Senior Kourtney Wilson (Islip, NY/St. Anthony) made the lead stand, limiting the Devils to one run on nine hits while striking out five and walking none in seven innings. The performance was the 14th complete game of the season for Wilson, who improved to 18-4. Knorr went 3-for-4 with a double and two runs, while freshman Caitlin McCready (Jupiter, FL/Dwyer), junior Nicole Velardi (Belleville, NJ/Belleville), senior Dia Cascone (Staten Island, NY/Susan Wagner) and sophomore Megan Fryday (San Marcos, CA/Mission Hills) had two hits apiece.

In the second game, the Cougars led 1-0 on a single by Velardi in the second inning that brought home Cascone. But in the top of the third, Summers hit her second home run of the day with Devin DeBellis on first for a 2-1 Devils lead. The lead did not last long, as the Cougars scored three times in the bottom of the third to pull ahead, 4-2. McCready tripled home Knorr, and Reighn singled in McCready in the inning. Knorr came home again in the fifth on a grounder by Calderon.

After USciences scored a run in the top of the sixth, Caldwell put the game out of reach in the bottom of the sixth with four runs for a 9-3 advantage. Sophomore Sara Zambelli (West Milford, NJ/West Milford) singled to score Cascone, Fryday doubled home Zambelli and McCready hit a two-run double in the inning. Katie Dickson hit a two-run homer in the top of the seventh to close out the scoring.

Sophomore Hanna Walkinshaw (Aptos, CA/Aptos) allowed two runs, one earned, on five hits in five innings for the win, while sophomore Sarah Almasy (Stratford, NJ/Sterling) pitched the final two innings to earn the save. McCready went 2-for-2 with a run and three RBI, while Cascone had two hits and scored twice.

The wins also marked the final home games for seniors Cascone, Leal and Wilson.

The Cougars will play Bloomfield in the first round of the CACC Tournament on Thursday, May 2, beginning at 10:00 a.m. at Georgian Court University in Lakewood, N.J.