Vikings Split on Day Two of Spring Break

Jose Rodriguez '24, Staff Writer | Media & Communications

CLERMONT, Fla. – On day two of their spring break trip, Salem State softball took on the Red Hawks of Ripon College before facing the Wilmington College Quakers. The Vikings defeated the Red Hawks 12-8 to secure their first win of the season before falling to the Quakers (7-6), bringing their record to 1-3 on the season.

Game One vs. Ripon

• Samantha Gaona (Billerica, Mass.) singled to right field in the top of the first inning to bring in the first run of the game before aggressive base running would bring three more runs around to give the Vikings the early 4-0 lead in the opening inning.
• By the bottom of the second the Red Hawks cut the Vikings' lead in half after a sacrifice fly from Mikaela Lawrence (Anchorage, Alaska) made it a 4-2 game.
• In the top of the fifth inning the Vikings widened their gap after three hits and a Red Hawk's error brought six runs around to give them the 11-2 advantage.
• The Red Hawks looked to build some momentum in the bottom of the fifth and sixth inning after Abriana Anderson (Fox Lake, Ill.) cleared the bases in the fifth to make it an 11-5 game before a single brought another runner around in the sixth.
• In the final inning, Paige Souza (New Bedford, Mass.) connected on a single down the left field line to add to the Vikings' tally before Salem's defense left two runners on base in the bottom of the inning to end the Red Hawk's rally and secure the 12-8 victory.

Game Two vs. Wilmington

• Behind Judaea Wilson's (Delaware, Ohio) impressive play at the plate (3-3, 4 RBIs), the Quakers recorded 10 hits in the first three innings of the game to jump out to the 7-0 lead.
• The Vikings began their rally in the bottom of the third after scoring four runs, with an Emily Henning (Grafton, Mass) home run over the left field fence accounting for three of them, to make it a 7-4 game.
• The Vikings' defense would allow only one hit from the Quakers over the next four innings to enter the bottom half of the seventh behind, 7-4, before Souza singled to right center to bring home a run and then Dawn Eisnor's (Medford, Mass.) discipline at the plate allowed another runner to cross home. Unfortunately, that would be as close as they would get as the Quakers would leave three Viking runners on base to steal the 7-6 victory.

NOTEWORTHY

• Alanis Toledano (Boston, Mass.) recorded her first win as a Viking in their victory over Ripon while head coach, Ryan Leahy, also recorded his first victory at the helm for the Vikings.
• Freshmen Gaona and Souza had productive days for the Vikings, with Gaona going 5-8 from the plate while bringing around one run and Souza going  3-6 with 3 RBIs.
• Emily Carter (Warwick, R.I.) pitched 5.2 innings without giving up an earned run in the Vikings' rally against Wilmington.