Garden City, N.Y. – Powered by a complete-game four-hitter from sophomore McKaily Cusumano (Monroe, Mich./Monroe) and an RBI from junior Skania Lemus (Chula Vista, Calif./Southwestern CC), the No. 5 seeded Mercy College softball team recorded its first-ever win in the NCAA Tournament with a 3-1 victory over No. 4 seeded University of New Haven on Thursday afternoon at Janet L. Ficke Field.
The Mavericks (33-14) have won two games in a row and will play No. 1 Adelphi tomorrow at 11 a.m. The Chargers (30-15) will now face No. 8 Wilmington tomorrow at 1:30 p.m.
Cusumano went the distance with seven strikeouts to pick up her team-leading tenth win of the season, while Lemus went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Freshman Destini Bullock (San Diego, Calif./Helix), senior Janelle Wade (West Chester, Pa./Henderson), juniors Cassidy Wootten (Ardsley, N.Y./Monroe College) and Morgan Lloyd (East Lyme, Conn./East Lyme) and sophomore Kaylee Stevens (Simi Valley, Calif./Royal) also recorded hits.
New Haven was led by Sierra Whitlock who went 1-for-4 with an RBI, while Megan Butts gave up an earned run to take the loss.
Mercy looked to pick up their first-ever NCAA Tournament win in their first-ever game in the Tournament. The game remained scoreless until the top of the third when Lemus tripled home senior Katiana Golino (Carteret, N.J./Carteret) with two outs to give the Mavericks a 1-0 lead.
After Cusumano worked around a leadoff single, Mercy tacked on two more runs in the top of the fourth to take a 3-0 lead. Wootten led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on an error by the left fielder. Stevens then reached first on an error by the shortstop. After a pair of fielder's choices put runners on first and second, a wild pitch would bring runners to second and third. Golino would then reach on fielding error by the second baseman which led to freshman Kendall Meeks (Guysville, Ohio/Alexander) and Lloyd scoring.
The three runs would be more than enough for Cusumano who continued her strong pitching with a 1-2-3 inning in the fourth. The Chargers were able to plate a run in the bottom of the fifth but it was not enough as Cusumano shut the door on New Haven and gave the Mavericks the historic win.
Provided by the Mercy Sports Information Department.
