BOX SCORE (Game #1)
BOX SCORE (Game #2)

CLERMONT, FLA. – The William Paterson softball team (3-1) bounced back from a 3-0 loss to Wellesley (1-0) to defeat No. 25 St. Thomas, 8-6, on March 18 at the NTC Spring Games in Clermont, Fla.  

GAME ONE
Wellesley pieced together three singles and a double to score all three of its runs during the top of the fourth inning.

Freshman second baseman Christina Austin (Sewell, N.J./Washington Twp.), sophomore pinch hitter Danielle Capozzi (Wanaque, N.J./Lakeland Regional) and freshman left fielder Kelsey Principe (Parsippany, N.J./Parsippany) accounted for the Pioneers' three hits.

Freshman Kerrin Dys (North Arlington, N.J./North Arlington) suffered the loss (0-1), allowing the three runs and five hits in 4.0 innings.  Senior Michele Graham (Hawthorne, N.J./Hawthorne) scattered five hits over 3.0 innings of scoreless relief.

GAME TWO
Sophomore Rachel Cannata (Waldwick, N.J./Paramus Catholic) pitched a complete-game victory and went 2-for-4 at the plate with a pair of RBI as WP upset No. 25 St. Thomas, 8-6.

Freshman first baseman Jessica Phillips (Woolwich, N.J./Kingsway Regional) singled in junior right fielder Samantha Mulderig (Sewell, N.J./Washington Twp.) to get the Pioneers on the scoreboard in the top of the third, but the Tommies answered with a solo home run during the home half of the inning.

Cannata led off the fourth with a base hit and was lifted for pinch runner Laura Henriquez (Westampton, N.J./Rancocas Valley Regional).  Henriquez advanced to second on a passed ball and was sacrificed to third, then scored on a double steal with Principe.

WP exploded for five fifth-inning scores.  Mulderig started the frame with a hit by pitch, followed by an Austin single and a Phillips double to score Mulderig.  Capozzi singled in Austin and Cannata cleared the bases with her base hit.  Senior third baseman Jessica Maciolek (Hamilton, N.J./Steinert) later plated sophomore shortstop Katelyn Miele (Flanders, N.J./Pope John XXIII) with her two-out single, handing William Paterson a 6-1 lead.

St. Thomas scored twice in the fifth with three base hits and a groundout, then added a single run in the sixth.

Mulderig doubled in Principe to make it an 8-4 game in the middle of the seventh before the Tommies tacked on two runs during their final at-bat, leaving the go-ahead run at the plate.

Maciolek was 2-for-2 with a RBI, Mulderig finished 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles, two runs scored and a RBI, and Phillips went 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored and two RBI.

Cannata tossed all 7.0 innings (1-0), allowing five earned runs on 15 hits, striking out one and walking one.

The Pioneers will face No. 1 Luther at 9:00 a.m. and New Paltz at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, March 19.