WILMINGTON, Del. — The Goldey-Beacom Lightning took advantage of 11 Millersville Marauder miscues across both halves of the team's season-opening doubleheader and defeated the visitors by scores of 8-7 and 10-2 Friday evening. Marauder senior
Kendra Bumgardner enjoyed a productive day at the plate, tallying four hits and three runs batted in across both games.
Carly Vaughan had a similar performance, totaling three hits in her four at-bats including two doubles in game two.
Nicolina Pezzone took the ball for the Marauders to start the 2025 campaign and allowed five runs over two innings of work; just one of those scores were earned because of four errors and a passed ball in the two frames.
The Marauders put the struggles in the field behind them when they went to bat in the top of the third. A two-out Bumgardner single to right field brought home two runs before
Jiana Maniscalco smashed a triple to bring her home as well;
Angelina Edwards finished the inning off with an RBI double to cut the deficit to one at 5–4.
Angelina Saverase led off the next frame with a triple after replacing Pezzone on the mound and later scored to tie it up. Millersville took its first lead of the season a few batters later when Bumgardner singled with two runners on to make the score 6–5.
Saverase rolled through the Lightning's lineup until the seventh inning, when a leadoff triple put the tying run on third base. The next batter singled to score the run and send it to extra innings. Millersville got the 'zombie runner' home in its half via a well-executed bunt and a wild pitch, but got no more, giving
Mollie White the slimmest of margins in her Marauder debut.
This is when the defensive mistakes would strike again. After five straight innings of flawless fielding, a dropped fly ball began the inning, putting the tying and go-ahead runs on second and third. The Goldey-Beacom batter flew out for the first out and White got the next hitter on strikes before another dropped fly ball brought both runs home for the 8–7 Lightning victory.
Freshman
Delaney Troxell got the start in game two and threw well through the first two innings before a throwing error on a sacrifice bunt with two runners on led to six third-inning runs, five of them unearned. The Marauders got two back in their next chance in the box on a Vaughan two-RBI double, but more fielding miscues led to two more runs and snuffed any chance of a comeback.
"We didn't showcase the work that we've put in or the defensive execution I've seen in practice," Marauders head coach
Jen Probst said postgame.
All told, the hosts scored 18 runs but just five of them were earned. Despite being saddled with the loss in game one, White didn't give up a single earned run on the day. Saverase showed off her two-way talent with 4.1 innings of one-run ball in addition to her leadoff triple.
The Marauders make their way to Seaber Softball Stadium for their home debut on Feb. 12, with games starting at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
