The Chestnut Hill College Softball team opened conference play on Tuesday with a pair of games against Wilmington University at the Chestnut Hill college Softball Field. The Wildcats pulled away late in the opener to defeat the Griffins 8-1 and completed the sweep with a 14-2 win in game two.
The Griffins fall to 5-13 overall and 0-2 in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference games. The Wildcats are now 7-9 overall and 2-0 in league play.
Ariana Carreno (Pompano Beach, Fla.) went 3-for-3 in the opener and added a hit in the second game to extend her hitting streak to nine games. The freshman outfielder has delivered 19 hits over the course of the streak and now leads the team with a .468 batting average (second in the CACC) She was recently named to the CACC Weekly Honor Roll.
Steph Tonuci (Barrington, N.J.) also extended her hitting streak to seven games with hits in both contests. Tonuci, the current CACC Player of the Week is second on the team is second on the team with a .435 batting average and is now ranks eighth in the CACC.
Lily Reid (Texas City, Texas) (2-6) took the loss in the opener, pitching a complete game allowing all eight runs (seven earned) and striking out two.
Madison Petroski (Sicklerville, N.J.) (3-4), who also had hits in both games suffered the loss in game two, pitching just 3.1 innings and allowing 12 of the Wildcats 14 runs (eight earned).
The Wildcats jumped out to a 3-0 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth inning before the Griffins jumped on the scoreboard. Carreno singled and
Kayla Rolon (Brooklyn, N.Y.) drew a walk to start the inning.
Skylar Cunningham's (Covina, Calif.) sacrifice moved both runners into scoring position and Carreno then scored on
Victoria Grillo's (Staten Island, N.Y.) RBI single, cutting the lead to 3-1.
Three infield errors in the fifth led to three more Wildcat runs and Wilmington added two more in the sixth to lead 8-1 to round out the scoring.
In game two, the Griffins struck first, taking advantage of a Wildcat error to produce their run. Chestnut Hill had runners on first and third with one out following the error.
Anastasia Watson (Claymont, Del.) laid down a bunt and Petroski beat the throw to the plate to give the Griffins an early 1-0 lead.
Wilmington took advantage of three Chestnut Hill errors in the second inning, scoring five runs to lead 5-1 and added banged out five hits off Petroski in the third to plate four more runs and take a 9-1 lead.
The Griffins ran themselves out of a potential big inning in the bottom of the third as two baserunners were thrown out trying to steal on separate occasions. Rolon's single up the middle brought home Carreno who had singled two batters earlier was then caught stealing to end the inning with the Griffins down 9-2.
Wilmington added four more runs in the fourth, highlighted by a two-run home run by Arianna Millan and another run in the fifth to make the final score 14-2.
The Chestnut Hill College softball team returns to action on Saturday, March 26, 2022 with a doubleheader at Post University. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m.
