NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y., March 23, 2019 – The Monroe College Mustangs softball team saw its six-game winning streak come to an end on Saturday, as the Mustangs fell twice to County College of Morris in a doubleheader at Flowers Park. Monroe drops to 9-8 overall, while Morris improves to 12-5.
 
GAME 1: MORRIS 13, MONROE 12 (9 INNINGS)
The Titans struck first in Game 1 with a run in the top of the second. Morris loaded the bases with nobody out, but Kuppenbender got the next batter to pop out to second. Alyssa Borozan then flew out to left, deep enough to score Hannah Brizek from third to give Morris the lead, but Genna Ricciardi was then thrown out at third by the catcher to end the inning with Morris only taking a 1-0 lead.
 
The Titans put together a big rally in the top of the third to take a sizeable lead. With Katlyn Lloyd on second, Nicole Catalina hit an RBI single up the middle to bring her in and make it a 2-0 game. Later in the frame with two runners on, Brizek hit a three-run inside-the-park homer to center, pushing the Titans' lead to 5-0.
 
Megan Soto led off the bottom of the third with a walk for the Mustangs. Keira Matos then singled up the middle, and Kaylynn Lopez followed with an infield single to load the bases. Marissa Vanduzer followed with a walk to bring in Monroe's first run of the game. Samantha Mancillas then hit an RBI single up the middle to score Matos and make it a 5-2 game. With the bases loaded and one out, Macie Kuppenbender lined one down the left-field line for a bases-clearing triple, tying the game at 5-5. A wild pitch then brought Kuppenbender home to give Monroe a 6-5 advantage.
 
Katlyn Lloyd and Nicole Catalina drew back-to-back walks to kick off the fourth for Morris. After a double steal, a ground out to short by Amanda Cook allowed Lloyd to score and tie the game. Two batters later, Brizek hit a two-run homer to right, her second of the day, to give the Titans an 8-6 lead.
 
Mancillas led off the bottom of the fifth with a triple for the Mustangs. Two batters later, Kuppenbender dropped down a suicide squeeze, scoring Mancillas to make it a one-run game.
 
Morris added to its lead in the top of the seventh. Lloyd hit a fly ball deep down the right-field line for a solo inside-the-park home run, making it a 9-7 ballgame.
 
The Mustangs strung together a rally in the bottom of the seventh to keep the game going. Mancillas singled through the left side to lead off the frame, then Quiroz drew a walk. The Titans then brought in Nicole Carter to pitch, and a pair of wild pitches allowed Mancillas to score and make it a one-run game. Kuppenbender then hit a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Quiroz to tie game at 9-9 and send it to extra innings.
 
International softball tiebreaker rules were in effect for Saturday's contest, which places a runner on second base to start each inning. Morris took advantage of this in the top of the eighth when Genna Ricciardi eventually knocked in the runner with a groundout to short, putting the Titans up, 10-9.
 
The Mustangs then got their chance, and quickly tied the game after Stacy Hernandez moved to third on a wild pitch and was singled in by Megan Soto, eventually sending the game to the ninth.
 
Alyssa Borozan hit an RBI triple with one out for the Titans to make it an 11-10 game. Lloyd followed with an RBI double, and then a single by Catalina made it a 13-10 lead for the visitors.
 
Kaylynn Lopez was placed on second for Monroe, and she quickly stole third on the first pitch. Vanduzer then doubled her in to make it a two-run game. Mancillas followed with a single to get Monroe within one, but the Mustangs were unable to get one more, falling by a run in extra innings.
 
Carter got the win for Morris after taking over in the seventh, improving her to 5-4. Kuppenbender tossed all nine frames for Monroe, but took the loss to drop to 8-5.
 
Mancillas hit 4-for-5 with a triple, three runs and two RBIs for Monroe in Game 1. Lopez batted 3-for-5 with a run. Kuppenbender went 1-for-2, knocking in five runs and scoring another while adding a triple. Vanduzer batted 1-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs.
 
GAME 2: MORRIS 15, MONROE 2
The Titans took a big lead to start the game, rallying for six runs in the top of the first to make it a 6-0 game in the top of the first. Morris then added to its lead with three more in the second to take a 9-0 advantage.
 
The Mustangs got one back in the bottom of the second when Hernandez blasted and inside-the-park home run to deep center, making it a 9-1 game.
 
Morris improved upon its lead with two more runs in the top of the third. The Mustangs then added a run in the home half of the third when Quiroz singled in Vanduzer to make it an 11-2 game.
 
Four more runs for the Titans in the fourth made it a 15-2 game, which eventually forced the game to end in the fifth via the run rule.
 
Nicole Carter got the win for Morris again in Game 2 to improve to 6-4. Keira Matos took the loss for the Mustangs, falling to 1-3 on the season.
 
Hernandez finished 1-for-2 with a solo homer for the Mustangs in Game 2. Quiroz went 1-for-2 with an RBI. Vanduzer hit 1-for-3 with a run, while Lopez and Baudy Alba both went 1-for-2.
 
The Mustangs will look to bounce back tomorrow, March 24, when they host Rowan College of Gloucester County at Flowers Park. Game 1 of 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 28 teams competing across nine sports. There are 19 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as club men's and women's rugby, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Monroe Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus as of the fall of 2017, has nine teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level.
 
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).