CLERMONT, FLA. – The William Paterson softball team (2-0) started its 2016 campaign with a pair of victories March 13, defeating Endicott (0-1), 3-0, and Westfield State (0-2), 4-3, at The Spring Games.
 
Game One
Junior Allison Podmajersky (Red Bank, N.J./Middletown South) threw a complete-game two-hitter as WP started its season with a 3-0 victory against Endicott.
 
The Pioneers pushed across a run during the top of the first inning when junior shortstop Rachel Wasilak (Livingston, N.J./Livingston) hit a two-out single down the left-field line, stole second and scored when sophomore second baseman Kaitlyn Poretti (Florence, N.J./Florence Memorial) tripled down the right-field line.
 
Senior first baseman Tracy Geller (Commack, N.Y./Commack) reached base via an error to open the fifth and was lifted for pinch runner Christine Griffith (Upper Saddle River, N.J./Northern Highlands Regional). Junior right fielder Nicole Fryer (East Stroudsburg, Pa./East Stroudsburg South) sacrificed Griffith to second, and a single through the right side by sophomore center fielder Eleni Lutas (Pompton Plains, N.J./Pequannock) put runners on the corners. A wild pitch allowed Griffith to score, and Wasilak plated Lutas with a base hit up the middle to make it a 3-0 margin.
 
Wasilak was 3-for-3 with an RBI and run scored, while Poretti had an RBI-triple.
 
Podmajersky (1-0) did not allow a runner to reach second base, scattering two hits while striking out eight and walking two.
 
Senior Courtney Blake took the loss for the Gulls (0-1), giving up three runs (two earned) on seven hits with four strikeouts and one walk.
 
Game Two
Poretti's two-run double in the bottom of the seventh lifted the Pioneers to a 4-3 victory against Westfield State.
 
WP struck first with a Lutas bunt single and Wasilak double to left field during the bottom of the first inning.
 
The Owls took a 2-1 lead in the fourth, stringing together three singles and a walk, but the Pioneers tied the game during the home half of the same frame. Freshman Jillian Bainbridge (Princeton, N.J./Hopewell Valley Central) hit a one-out, pinch-hit single up the middle and was replaced on the base paths by junior catcher Kim Fryer (East Stroudsburg, Pa./East Stroudsburg South). Nicole Fryer then knocked her in with a triple to left.
 
A double and single handed Westfield State a 3-2 sixth-inning advantage.
 
Nicole Fryer opened the bottom of the seventh with a base hit through the left side, and Lutas put down a bunt single. Following a flyout, Poretti cleared the bases with her two-bagger to left to give the Pioneers the walk-off victory.
 
 Nicole Fryer, Lutas and Wasilak each had three hits for WP.
 
Junior Gabrielle Castelli (Cedar Grove, N.J./Cedar Grove) threw the first 5.1 innings, allowing three runs on five hits with five strikeouts and one walk. Podmajersky (2-0) tossed the final 1.2 innings, giving up a hit and a walk while striking out four.
 
Junior first baseman Julia Sullivan was 3-for-3 with two RBI for the Owls. Freshman starter Sarah Eugenio surrendered two runs on 10 hits over 6.0 innings with five strikeouts, while senior Jamie Ricciardi (0-1) allowed two runs and three hits in 0.1 inning of work.
 
William Paterson will take on Keene State at 11:00 a.m. and Western New England at 3:00 p.m. on Monday, March 14.
 
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