NEW YORK- Pace Softball had a mini tour through New York City starting at Staten Island and ending in Queens, resulting in three more victories.
On Tuesday this week, the team traveled to the College of Staten Island for a doubleheader. In both, the Setters won convincingly, a margin of victory over 5 in both games.
Game 1 at 2:30 pm put starting duties on ace Giselle Garcia. Her strong pitching remained as she went without a hit through 3 innings. Garcia also picked up 6 strikeouts before Priscilla Del Toro put the game away out of the bullpen.
Poor pitching from the Dolphins allowed the first run across with 2 batters hit by pitches in the first inning. CSI then gave up two walks making it 2-0 Setters in the blink of an eye. Willa Poplawski singled to right to break the game open. 4 runs got across for Pace before an out was recorded. Sophie Valle tacked on two more with a hit down the left-field line. The Dolphins meanwhile left multiple runners on base. Two were stranded in the bottom of the 4th and 1 in the bottom of the 5th. The score would remain until the final out, for a shutout victory for Pace.
It took longer for Pace to score in Game 2 of the doubleheader. But the runs came in a hurry. Three were left on in the first two innings. Finally, Riley Jenkins singled to bring Kaylee Matsui home. Poplawski got yet another RBI as she got Jenkins across home plate. Matsui drove home runners herself. Her 4th inning single down third base let Raelle Gorman score. Brianna Shea’s hit brought Matsui across home again to make it 5-0 Setters. Alyssa Smith picked up the complete game win, allowing just 1 run, it being in the 7th. Her record moves to 3-1.
The Setters drove to Flushing, Queens the next day for a date with Queens College. Garcia retook the mound. Pace struck again in the third inning. Jenkins brought Matsui home for the second time in two days to open the scoring. Alexa Borino scored next benefitting from a Shea single. The next inning was more offense. Poplawski doubled for immediate scoring position. Katherina Luna doubled herself to bring Poplawski home and make it 4-0 Setters. It would be all the run support Garcia needed. She had herself a complete game, allowing just 3 hits and striking out 11, the 11th time she recorded double-digit strikeouts. The Setters improved to 24-10.