RADNOR, Pa. – Avery Byrnes led the Cabrini University softball team in its doubleheader sweep of Widener University Monday afternoon as the senior tossed a no-hitter in Game 1 to help secure a 6-0 win followed by a 5-1 win in Game 2 at Cabrini Field.
Byrnes's outing began shakily as the Downingtown native walked the bases loaded in the top of the first. With the bases juiced and nobody out, the senior right-hander found the zone and struck out the middle of the Pride order to get out of the jam. In the bottom half,
Ariana Mirenda led off Cabrini's half of the inning with a double and later came around to score after a Widener miscue. Byrnes later plated
Abby Tobelmann with an infield single to give the Cavs a 2-0 lead after one inning.
The Cavs went scoreless over the next four, but in the fifth, Cabrini's bats came back to life as the Blue and White scored four runs on five hits.
Madison Gugel knocked in a pair with a two-run single followed by an RBI-groundout from
Sydney Andrews.
Shauna Stotler later sealed the 6-0 win with an RBI-single to score Byrnes.
After she worked out of trouble in the first, Byrnes settled in and went the distance as she threw her second no-hitter this season and sixth of her career. She allowed just five base runners and struck out a new career-high 16 batters on the way to her eighth win of the year.
In Game 2, the Pride jumped out to 1-0 lead on a leadoff home run in the top of the third. The Cavs answered immediately in the bottom half as Gugel drove home
Emma Barbera with an infield single to knot the game at one apiece. Then in the third, Stotler plated
Kelsey Huling with an RBI-double to left center and later scored on an RBI-single from Mirenda to give Cabrini a 3-1 lead through four innings.
The Cavs scored twice more over their last two at-bats as Huling knocked in
Kaitlyn Delaney in the fifth and
Dorian Ilyes drove in
Marissa Urner with a single in the sixth.
Daphne Santos followed Byrnes's Game 1 performance with a complete game of her own as the freshman allowed just one run on three hits with one walk and eight strikeouts.
The Cavaliers return to action on Tuesday, April 18 when Cabrini hosts Penn State Brandywine in a non-conference doubleheader. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.
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