Lincroft, N.J. – The Monroe College softball team dropped its final two regular-season games to Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, New Jersey on Tuesday. The Mustangs lost the first game, 13-5, in five innings and took an extra innings setback in the nightcap, 9-7.
Monroe got off to an auspicious start with three runs in the first.
Taylor White singled and
Cassidy Wootten reached on an error. Later in the inning,
Gabrielle Placencia ripped a double to right that scored White and Wootten.
Maranda Diaz followed with an RBI double of her own, bringing in Placencia.
From there, Brookdale countered with 12 unanswered runs over the next four innings. Because the Mustangs entered the fifth trailing 12-3, they needed a pair of runs to keep the game going.
Wootten reached on error for the second time. She came in to score on a base hit from
Yalitza Rodriguez.
Toni Harris batted as a pinch-hitter and delivered an RBI single that scored Diaz, who also reached on an error. Monroe trailed 12-5 and the game went into the bottom of the fifth. Brookdale scored a run and won 13-5.
Carly Coleman was tagged with the loss. Placencia had a pair of RBIs in the game.
Game two started off nearly as well for the Mustangs as they took a 5-0 lead across the first four innings. They got two runs each in the second and third, and added another in the fourth. The runs in the second came on a Rodriguez solo homer and a Coleman RBI double. Rodriguez's homer was her team-leading fourth of the season. In the third, both Diaz and Harris had RBI base hits as Monroe extended the lead to 4-0. The run in the fourth came when Placencia singled, scoring Wootten.
The game was tied at 6-6 heading into extra innings. The Mustangs took a 7-6 lead in the top of the eighth when
Yeisy Cruz (who started the inning at second base as per the international tie break rule) scored on an error. Brookdale got a walk-off three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth, earning a 9-7 win.
The Monroe College softball team will now advance to the Region XV Tournament, which is slated to begin on Saturday, April 30. The Mustangs will face a yet-to-be-determined opponent in a series hosted by Mercyhurst North East in North East, Pennsylvania.
