After a pair of tough losses yesterday, the College of Staten Island women’s softball team bounced back to win a pair of heavily-contested road games today over FDU-Florham in Florham, NJ.  CSI won the opener, 5-3, before winning 11-10, in extra innings, in game two.  The victories pushed CSI up to 23-10 overall, while FDU fell to 10-21.

In the opener, CSI built a 5-0 lead before putting down a late rally to give pitcher Jacqueline Cautela the complete game win.  In the top of the first, Cautela helped her own cause, hitting a solo homerun to center field to get CSI off to a 1-0 lead.  One inning later, CSI’s Maxine Jasko doubled CSI’s lead when she plated Danielle Locke against FDU starter Sydney Worek.

Both pitchers plowed along until a Chyanne Gilliam single in the fifth inning plated Christina Tufano, and then in the sixth, CSI gave themselves a nice cushion, when Cautela cleared two bases with a single, scoring Kristy Colangelo and Jasko.

After FDU added an unearned run in the sixth off of CSI reliever Alexandra Conanan, they made things interesting in the seventh.  Conanan issued a double and two walks, loading the bases, so CSI countered by putting Cautela back in to pitch.  Jacquelyn Tartaglia would score on a wild pitch, and then Paige Lillie walked in a run to make it 5-3.  With bases still loaded and just one out, Cautela then responded, striking out Kailee Sullivan and then forcing Taylor Torre into a line out to preserve the win.

CSI out-hit FDU, 9-4, with Jasko leading the way, going 3-3 with an RBI and run scored.

The teams scattered 25 hits in the second game, and the wild one ended in eight innings.  A Gilliam RBI-double gave CSI a 1-0 lead, but FDU took it back, 2-1, in their turn of the first , with a two-run homerun by Torre.  After CSI tied it in the fourth, FDU then responded with two runs in their fourth inning at bats to make it 4-2.

CSI then came to life.  Gilliam tripled in a run in the fifth to make it 4-3, and then Locke singled home Gilliam to tie the game at 4-4.  Jasko then doubled to score Locke, and Colangelo followed with a double to score Jasko, and just like that, the score was 6-4 Dolphins.

FDU scored to make it 6-5, but CSI was then looking good by scoring another four runs in the sixth inning to make it 10-5.  Tufano doubled in two runs to highlight things.  But in their final turn at bat, FDU had some high drama in store.  With the bases loaded against Nicolette Trapani, FDU’s Sullivan walk in a run to make it 10-6, and then Amber Cordero stepped up and boomed a grand slam homerun to centerfield, tying the score.  

Trapani was able to get out of the frame, and then, with the international tiebreaker rule in place, CSI scored in the eighth to make it 11-10.  New FDU pitcher Marlena Bevilaqua got two quick outs with Gilliam at second, but the Colangelo laced a single to left field and Gilliam was able to score.

In the bottom of the frame, there was more drama.  After an out, CSI got Bevilaqua to ground out for the second out, but a throwing error by Jasko allowed Christina Legotti to reach third and she headed for home.  CSI’s Locke, who was covering the area behind third base, gunned the ball at home plate and Legotti was out on the play, giving CSI the defensive walk-off win.

CSI out-hit FDU, 14-11, with Cautela going 4-5 with two runs scored and Gilliam going 3-5 with two RBI and four runs scored.

The Dolphins are off tomorrow and return to action on Tuesday, when they visit NJ City University at 4pm for a non-conference doubleheader.