Bronx, N.Y. - The Lehman College softball team ended its losing streak, picked up its first two home wins of 2018 and outscored York 23-4 in a doubleheader sweep of the Cardinals in a pair of games played on the South Field on Saturday. The Lightning took the opener, 10-2, in six innings, and won the rubber match, 13-2, in five.
Lehman slugged ten hits in game one. Maranda Diaz, the reigning CUNYAC Player of the Year, was omnipresent in both games. She had two hits (including a double), three runs scored and stole five bases in the opener. The Lightning got a run in the first without a hit. After an error, a walk and a hit by pitch, Yaidee Nieves drove in a run after she was struck by a pitch.
The Cardinals tied the score in the second, but Lehman jumped back on top with two more in the second. Andrelina Gil laced a double to center. Diaz followed with a bunt single. Two batters later, Caitlin Vernon drove in Gil with a double and Diaz scored on an error.
An inning later, Lehman added four more runs to go up 7-1. Nieves picked up her second RBI of the game with a groundout that scored Karen Rivera. Genesis Paulino was hit by a pitch and Stephanie Cruz reached on an error and they both scored on a two-RBI triple from Gil. Lehman led 6-1. Gil came in on a wild pitch.
York got a run in the fourth to make the score 7-2. Lehman used a pair of doubles to score twice in the fifth. Diaz led off with a two-bagger to left. Diamond Villegas followed with a double to center, plating Diaz. Villegas came in on an RBI groundout from Tiffany Adames. The Lightning scored the game-ending run in the sixth when Cruz singled and scored on an error. Nieves tossed a complete-game two hitter. She struck out ten.
Lehman took a 4-0 lead in game two. Diaz led off with a solo homerun to center. Villegas singeld and later scored on a hit from Vernon. Lehman got two more runs on a wild pitch and a passed ball. The score went to 7-0 after two innings when the Lightning added three more runs in the second. Diaz led off with a triple and scored on a Villegas sacrifice fly. Adames and Nieves each added RBI later in the inning.
York fought back and scored twice in the third to pull within 7-2. Lehman put the game away with six runs in the bottom of the third. Diaz blasted a three-run homer, her second of the game. Labriska Charles would also drive in a run with an RBI single. The Lightning added a pair of unearned runs and won 13-2, in five innings.
The Lehman College softball team returns to action on Monday, April 9, when they face Hunter on the road. The doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 3PM.
