NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y., March 17, 2018 – The Monroe College softball team played on its home turf for the first time in the 2018 season on Saturday and did not disappoint, taking both games from Cumberland County College by scores of 11-3 and 11-7 at Flowers Park. The Mustangs improve to 8-7 on the year with the pair of victories.
 
Game 1: Monroe 11, Cumberland County 3 (5 INNINGS)
Breanna Kuhner stole the show early on, starting with a leadoff inside-the-park solo homer into the right-center field gap in the bottom of the first to make it a quick 1-0 lead for Monroe. Brooke Boechler followed with a double, and moved to third on a wild pitch. Chantel Winstead then drew a walk, stealing second shortly after to put two runners in scoring position. Veronica Casanova loaded the bases without an out by drawing a walk in the next at bat.
 
Kimberly Zapata then ripped a single into right, plating both Boechler and Winstead to make it a 3-0 game. Selena Aguirre followed suit with a two-RBI double down the left-field line to make it 5-0. Aguirre later made it 6-0 after scoring on a wild pitch. With Brianna Martinez on second and two down in the inning, Kuhner hit another round-tripper, this time sending it down the left-field line and easily scurrying around the bases to make it an 8-0 game after one.
 
The Mustangs were quiet until the bottom of the fourth. With two runners in scoring position, Aguirre doubled to right-center, plating Casanova and Zapata to make it a 10-0 lead for the Mustangs.
 
The Mustangs were one out away from an eight-run rule victory in the top of the fifth, but with two on, Cumberland County's Samantha Santos hit a long fly ball over the right fielder's head, allowing her to touch all four bases for a three-run homer to keep the game going at 10-3.
 
It did not take long for the game to end after that. Kortney Semper drew a walk to start the bottom of the fifth, and then Kuhner sent a ball deep to right that would have been a home run had Semper's run not caused the eight-run rule, giving her a walkoff double to clinch the win for the Mustangs.
 
Brooke Kane went the complete five frames for Monroe, giving up just three hits and no earned runs to improve to 4-4. Cumberland County starter Breanna Suppi took the loss after giving up 10 runs in 3.1 frames.
 
Kuhner batted 3-for-4 with two home runs, a double, four RBIs and three runs scored. Aguirre also knocked in four runs after going 2-for-3 with two doubles and a run scored. Zapata went just 1-for-1 with two walks, but managed to knock in two runs and score two more herself.
 
Game 2: Monroe 11, Cumberland County 7
Game 2 got off to a slower start for Monroe, as the Dukes managed to take an early advantage. With runners on second and third, Katryna Arbelo hit an RBI single to left to give the Dukes a 1-0 lead. Two batters later, Megan Culley hit a single to left, plating Suppi from third. On the same play, an error allowed Arbelo to score as well, leaving Cumberland County up, 3-0.
 
Kuhner led off the first with another double, and moved to third on a groundout by Boechler. Then, as Winstead took ball four for a walk, the pitch got past the catcher, allowing Kuhner to score and cut the deficit down to two.
 
The Mustangs put runners on second and third after both Abigail Cancilla and Brianna Casiano singled, setting up Kuhner for a two-RBI double on a hard-hit grounder through the left side, tying the game up at 3-3. Kuhner later scored on another wild pitch to give Monroe a 4-3 advantage.
 
Monroe got things rolling once again in the bottom of the third. Winstead singled up the middle to kick off the home half of the inning, and with one out, Kimberly Zapata dropped a long fly ball down the right-field line, allowing the speedy center fielder to sprint around the bases for another Mustang inside-the-park home run, making it a 6-3 game. The Mustangs had the bases loaded with two away when a wild pitch brought Semper home from third to leave Monroe up, 7-3, after three.
 
The Dukes put their first two runners on in the fifth to start a rally. Arbelo then tripled into the left-center field gap, making it a 7-5 game. A wild pitch then brought Arbelo home to score and make it a one-run ballgame.
 
The Mustangs got back to work in the bottom of the fifth, starting with a leadoff single for Zapata. Aguirre then tripled to deep right-center to score Zapata and make it an 8-6 Mustang lead. Kane later hit a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Aguirre to give Monroe a three-run edge.
 
The Mustangs were able to pad their lead a little more in the bottom of the sixth after a two-out error allowed Winstead to reach base. Casanova then took advantage by blasting a deep fly ball over the center fielder for yet another inside-the-park two-run homer to put the Mustangs up, 11-6.
 
A couple of errors on the first batter of the top of the seventh allowed Arbelo to touch all four bases and get the Dukes within three. That was all they would get in the final frame, locking up a four-run win for Monroe.
 
Casiano got the win for the Mustangs with six strikeouts across four innings to improve to 3-2 on the season. Kane picked up her first save of the year after tossing three innings in relief without allowing an earned run. Culley shouldered the loss for the Dukes to fall to 1-3.
 
Zapata went 2-for-4 with a home run, two RBIs and two runs scored in the win. Casanova also homered, plating two runs and scoring another in a 1-for-4 effort. Cancilla batted 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Kuhner had another big game, hitting 2-for-4 with two doubles, two RBIs and two runs.
 
Monroe will get back to work next Saturday, March 24, when they host Orange County Community College at Flowers Park. The doubleheader is set to begin at 12 p.m.
 
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 26 teams competing across nine sports. There are 18 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as club men's rugby, and the newly added club women's rugby team, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Monroe Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus, has six teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level as of the fall of 2017.
 
For more information about the Monroe Mustangs, please visit us at www.MonroeCollegeMustangs.com or follow us on social media: Facebook (Monroe College Athletics), Twitter (@Monroe_Mustangs) and Instagram (@monroemustangs).