Madi Precht (’22) broke the single-season record for runs scored and the Drew University softball team swept Delaware Valley University in a non-conference doubleheader Tuesday afternoon on April 19.
The Rangers (20-11) won the opener 8-0 in five innings before rallying to win the nightcap 6-3. With its second win, Drew reached 20 wins for the sixth time in team history and the first time since the 2004 squad finished 21-13.
Precht broke the record in dramatic fashion, scoring all the way from first on a bunt single to tie the second game at 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth. It was her 37th run of the season, one more than previous record-holder Filipa Silva scored in 1998.
The Rangers went on to win the opener when Teagan Bradley (’25) drilled her second home run of the day – a solo shot in the sixth – before Molly O’Brien (’23) followed up with a two-run blast in the seventh.
Drew took command early in the opener, scoring seven runs over the first two innings. After scoring twice in the first, the Rangers broke it open with a five-spot in the second, which included RBI-singles from Madi Baldwin (’24) and Renata Primmer (’22) and a run-scoring double from Francesca O’Kleasky (’24).
It turned out to be more than enough run support for Tyler Saunders (’25), who fired her first career shutout with a four-hitter. She allowed a runner to advance beyond first base just once on the day, when the Aggies led off the fourth with a double. However, Del Val would fly into a 7-4 double play on the next at-bat and Saunders ended up facing the minimum nine batters over her final three innings.
O’Kleasky and Baldwin each finished 2-for-3 in the opener while O’Brien scored three runs and stole three bases.
The second game was a scoreless affair through the first three innings, when Emilee Marshall (’22) held the Aggies to just a single and a walk. Bradley put the Rangers on the scoreboard in the fourth when she drilled a two-run homer to right-center to make it a 2-0 game.
Del Val took its first lead of the day after scoring three runs on four hits in the bottom half. However, the lead didn’t last long. Precht ripped a two-out single in the top of the fifth before O’Brien came to the plate. She laid down a bunt on the left side of the infield, and the third baseman’s throw to first was not in time. Precht sprinted all the way to third on the play, then made a break for the plate. The second baseman, covering first on the bunt, raced to the plate and attempted to make a tag, but Precht slammed on the brakes and allowed the fielder to fly past, allowing her to score her record-breaking run.
After Marshall worked a three-up, three-down fifth, Bradley stepped up and promptly lined an opposite-field shot to right, giving the Rangers a 4-3 lead. She became the first Ranger to hit multiple home runs since Jesyka Marko went deep twice in a 9-8 loss at FDU-Florham on April 13, 2010.
The Aggies put runners on first and second in the bottom half, but Marshall escaped with a groundout. After O’Brien’s two-run dinger – her fourth long ball of the season – in the top of the seventh, Bailey Comeau (’23) came in to pitch in the bottom half. The hosts loaded the bases with one out, but Comeau got out of it with a flyout and groundout to pick up her first save of the season and the third of her career.
Bradley finished the game with three RBIs and a pair of runs while O’Brien was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Precht also finished 2-for-3. Marshall scattered seven hits and three walks while striking out three to earn her second win of the year.
The Drew University softball team scored three late runs to capture the second game of a non-conference doubleheader with William Paterson University on Thursday, April 21 at the Drew Softball Complex.
The Pioneers (14-15) won the opener 2-0 despite a two-hit, nine-strikeout performance from Bailey Comeau (’23). The Rangers (21-12) came back with a 3-1 game two victory behind a complete-game four-hitter from Teagan Bradley (’25).
In the opener, William Paterson scored the only runs of the game on a two-out error in the first. Comeau was brilliant over the final six innings when she yielded only a pair of walks in the third. She retired the final 13 batters she faced and finished with nine strikeouts – her second-highest total for the season.
The Pioneers struck first in the second game, scoring on an infield single in the third. But the Rangers pulled even in the fifth, when Lyons and Precht worked back-to-back walks to start the inning and prompt a pitching change. Two batters later, Renata Primmer (’22) singled in a run to make it a 1-1 game. Drew’s pivotal sixth inning began when O’Kleasky led off with a single to right. She was bunted to second by Paxtan Perry (’22) before moving to third on a groundout. Lyons followed up with a walk, setting up Precht’s go-ahead bunt.
With the score tied 1-1 in the bottom of the sixth, a bunt single from Madi Precht (’22) proved to be the play of the game. With runners on the corners, Precht beat out a bunt to the right side of the infield, allowing Francesca O’Kleasky (’25) to score the go-ahead run from third. Ciara Lyons (’22) moved from first to third on the play, just beating a tag on a throw across the infield, then scored when the throw went to second in an unsuccessful attempt to catch Precht. Lyons then broke for home and slid under a tag before the Pioneers finally ended the inning when the catcher threw out Precht at third, but not before two runs had scored.
The Rangers resume their Landmark Conference schedule with a pair of doubleheaders this weekend, traveling to Juniata College at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 23 before visiting Susquehanna University at the same time on Sunday, April 24.
