CLAREMONT- The Stevens Cardinals softball team hosted the Newfound Bears under the lights Wednesday night, and made it look easy, winning 13-1.
Senior Night festivities began the evening, as the Cardinals honored their lone senior, Alexis Ford. “She has had a really hot bat,” said Stevens Head Coach Missy Nichols on what the senior brings to the club. “She had taken one for the team by playing outfield, she has a great arm,” said Nichols.
On the mound for the Cardinals, Madison Lapsley would give up a leadoff double, but a strikeout and some solid defense would get her out of the inning unscathed.
Back-to-back base hits from Jenna Pond and Morgan Rhoades in the bottom of the first would set the table for a Kaitlyn Chambers double that would put Stevens up 2-0. An error off the bat of Ford would drive in Chambers, making it 3-0.
Newfound would get a run back in the top of the second, as Hayleigh Pabst would score on a passed-ball to make the score 3-1.
Stevens would break the game wide open in the third. With runners on second and third with no outs, Rhoades smashed a triple to make it 5-1. A passed-ball would increase the lead to 6-1. Lapsley would then help herself out, driving a single to make it 7-1 in favor of the Cardinals.
The offensive onslaught would continue when Makayla Maccioli drove a ball deep into the right-centerfield gap for a triple, and then took home on an overthrow to make it 10-1 Stevens.
“We started hitting right off the bat,” said Nichols. “When we hit early, everyone has confidence,” she said of why their offense clicked on Wednesday.
The Cardinals would add another in the third after a Chambers double drove in a run, 11-1 Stevens. Chambers went three-for-three on the night.
In the bottom of the fifth, Stevens would end it, putting up two more runs to hit the mercy-rule, 13-1. Lapsley turned in a dominant performance for the Cardinals, pitching five innings and only giving up one run. She would finish with eight strikeouts on 65 pitches.
The win makes the Cardinals 14-2 on the season, with their final contest of the year against Fall Mountain on Friday.
Even with all her team’s success, Nichols still sees room for improvement heading into the postseason. “We are playing really well right now, but maybe we need some work cleaning up the base-paths,” she said.
If the season ended today, Stevens would be the sixth seed in the Division III tournament.
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