Dobbs Ferry, NY | In a pair of tightly-contested matches, Mercy College used late inning heroics to score not one, but two improbable comebacks over the College of Staten Island this afternoon in ECC play.  The Mavericks took the opener, 6-5, in eight innings, and then came from 10 runs behind to score a 12-10 winner in game two.  Mercy improved to 12-6 overall and 11-3 in the ECC, while the Dolphins fell to 4-10 overall and in the conference.

GAME ONE
In the opener, CSI made a comeback of its own and managed to hold the lead for a series of innings, but Mercy's base running was the difference as they stole a total of seven bases, including three in the seventh to tie the game, adding the winner in the eighth.

Before all of that, the home side took a 3-0 lead after the game's first two innings.  Mercy scattered three hits in the opening inning, and Danielle Burgos' single knocked in leadoff hitter Alexis Crawford who had the first one to get Mercy started.  The Mavericks would strand two runners on base against CSI starter Emily Koerick, but they did damage in the second inning as well.  Alyssa Guzman led off with a double, and after she was sacrificed to third, Crawford reached via a walk.  Bolting for second to steal, Guzman did the same, stealing home, and Crawford would come all the way around thanks to a CSI error, making it 3-0.

After two relatively quiet innings against MC starter Alexi Benson, CSI took its turn to seize control in the third.  Jessica Carreon scored an infield single to start, and then Gorret Komuhendo reached first when she was hit by a pitch.  Koerick then helped her own cause with another infield single, bringing up Elizabeth Moore.  The freshman towered a shot to left center, and the ball hit the top of the fence and went over the wall for a grand slam, the first homer of her young career, instantly giving the Dolphins a 4-3 lead.  Benson got out of the inning from there, but CSI added an important insurance tally in the fourth, when Victoria Whalen, who doubled to start the inning, came in on a Koerick double that hugged the left field line.

Mercy would only put a single runner on base in two of the next three innings as Koerick and the defense seemingly cruised along, but that came to a crashing halt in the seventh.  Casey Akers led off with a walk and after registering an out, she took second on a wild pitch.  Hannah Mueller then legged out an infield single putting runners at the corners. Mia Harris would come in as a pinch runner for MC, and when she bolted for second base, CSI's defense made the decision to try and get her out at second.  As she was held up in a rundown, Akers stole home to make it 5-4, but to make the matter worse, Harris was able to race into second with a steal of her own, as CSI missed the golden opportunity to record a second out.  Harris then advanced on another wild pitch, but Koerick responded by striking out Burgos, and CSI was an out away from winning the game.  Sydney Johnston then stepped up, and she was hit by a pitch, putting runners at the corners again.  Once again, the home team opted for a double steal.  CSI conceded the run on the play as Johnston intentionally got held up on a run down as Harris scored easily.  Johnston was ultimately tagged out, but not before MC executed what it wanted, tying the score at 5-5.

With all of the momentum in their favor, Benson used it to score a five-pitch, 1-2-3 inning in the eighth, and CSI had to come right back out again for the bottom half of the extra frame.  Samantha Franck then played the role of hero with a one-out triple in the right field corner.  After Koerick registered a second out, Franck came in to score on a wild pitch, giving the Mavericks the walk-off, 6-5, win.

Benson got the win tossing eight innings, yielding five runs, all earned on eight hits, walking three and fanning six.  Koerick took the loss, going 7.2 innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on eight hits, with two walks and six k's.  Koerick scored CSI's only multi-hit game, going 2-3 with an RBI, also reaching base via walk.  Mueller went 2-4 for the Mavs with Crawford adding a pair of runs scored.

GAME TWO
It was a tough defeat for CSI in the opener, but the second game may have been a tougher pill to swallow as CSI battled valiantly but ultimately fell 12-10 in a game where they rattled MC starter Jessica Becchetti and took a 10-0 lead by the game's third inning.

CSI started their early-inning barrage in the first inning, when they plated two runs.  Alexandra Montella, who came in to replace an injured Koerick who reached base on a single, came in on a bases-loaded walk issued to Claudia Porcaro.  Samantha MacPherson followed when Kateridge hit into a fielder's choice, making it 2-0 after a frame.

After Nicole Rivera retired the Mavericks in her half of the first, CSI then put up a seven spot in their turn of the second.  A whopping four MC errors plagued the Mavericks in the frame.  CSI made it 3-0 thanks to a dropped fly and Porcaro then walked with the bases-loaded again to make it 4-0.  A Kateridge single made it 5-0, and then an RBI-single by Whalen, coupled with another error made it 7-0.  One last error made it 9-0, as reliever Sabrina Gonzalez was victimized.

CSI wasn't done there.  After Moore doubled to start the third inning, she was plated by MacPherson to make it an even 10-0, and that lifted Gonzalez in favor of Katelyn Shephard.  That proved to be a major catalyst for the home side, as she struck out the side for the Mavs, and MC would get the run back in the bottom of the third as Burgos, who singled earlier in the frame, came in on a wild pitch.

Shephard again delivered, again striking out the side in the fourth, getting the Mavs right back to the plate.  In the fourth, they made it hurt as Crawford and Nicole Smart each delivered RBI hits and then Burgos delivered a two-RBI stroke to make it a 10-5 game.  One more run in the bottom of the fifth for MC, this time on a bases-loaded hit by pitch made it 10-6 and essentially, a brand new game.  

With Shephard motoring along defensively, in the sixth Johnston was hit by a pitch and then Ylannah Bowman made it hurt with a homer to make it 10-8.  After Hailey Puglia singled and Alexandra Kalavias reached base on a fielder's choice, Akers singled in Puglia to make it 10-9, and after a wild pitch advanced two runners, Crawford delivered the game-tying blow to make it 10-10 before Smart stroked a two-RBI single in the five-hit inning to complete the comeback in the sixth at 12-10.

That proved enough for Shepard, who finalized her terrific game in relief with another strong outing in the seventh, preserving the win.  She finished with five innings pitched, yielding only a single hit, fanning nine.  Rivera took the loss for CSI, allowing 12 runs (seven earned) on 15 hits, walking three.  Both Crawford and Bowman scored three hits apiece, with four RBI and three runs scored between them.  Smart went 2-4 with two RBI and a run scored as well.  

CSI will now look to regroup in time for Thursday, when they travel to face St. Thomas Aquinas College for a 2:30 PM doubleheader in Sparkhill, NY.