in LITTLE FERRY, N.J. -- Senior shortstop
Ashleigh Tavaska (Jackson, N.J.) had five hits on the day and drove in the tiebreaking run in the sixth inning of the opener, and senior 1B
Brooke Martin (Oakland, Maine) hit the go-ahead RBI single that ignited an eight-run eighth inning in the nightcap as Caldwell earned a sweep of a CACC softball twinbill over Felician (8-22, 2-4 CACC) at Shannon Dalton Forde Field on Tuesday.
Game one was a back-and-forth affair that saw Caldwell take a two-run lead on a single slapped through the infield by sophomore LF
McKenzie Nazionale (Ontario, Calif.) in the fourth. The teams exchanged two-run frames, with the Cougars taking a 6-4 lead in the sixth on Tavaska's sacrifice fly and a run-scoring hit by freshman DP
Maddie Matkosky (Horseheads, N.Y.).Â
Sophomore righthander
Katie O'Connor (Charlottesville, Va.) came on in relief of senior righty
Jayden Hill (Geneva, N.Y.), who pitched a creditable first five. O'Connor allowed one hit over two scoreless innings to get her first save as Hill earned her second win. Nazionale had three hits and three RBI and three other Cougars had two hits in a 13 hit attack, including Tavaska, senior 2B Grace Vandracek (Odessa, N.Y.) and freshman catcher
Amanda Preston (Warwick, R.I.)
In game two, a nailbiter that went extra innings, the Cougars, trailing 2-0 entering the fifth, pieced together a rally which culminated in a run-scoring infield single by Nazionale and RBI groundout by Preston.
Then, after starter and winner O'Connor (6-5) tossed up three more scoreless frames, the Cougars took the lead for good on Martin's bases-loaded single, then after a wild pitch pushed across another, Matkosky followed with the back-breaker, a looping single over shortstop that chased home two for a 6-2 lead. In all, the Cougars used four walks, three singles, an error, a wild pitch and two passed balls to break the game open.
O'Connor starred again on the mound, scattering six hits and fanning four in eight superb innings of work.
Tavaska had three hits and Martin two, and Preston reached on three walks.
The Cougars (10-13, 5-1 CACC) step out of league play with a home twinbill with Southern Connecticut on Wednesday at Caldwell Athletic Field, starting at 2:30.
