Offense Leads Softball Past Akron, Middle Tennessee State

Saturday, February 17

Fort Myers, Fla.

10 AM

University of Delaware

4-4

Akron

1-2

AKR

DELAWARE

Photo by: Michael Riccio

Offense Leads Softball Past Akron, Middle Tennessee State

2/17/2024 6:05:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

FORT MYERS, Fla. – University of Delaware softball won two slugfests on Saturday, 13-12 over Akron in extra innings and 14-11 over Middle Tennessee State University. Julia Boyet delivered a walk-off sacrifice fly against Akron, while Morgan Hess earned the win in both games.

HEN HIGHLIGHTS VS AKRON

Five players recorded multi-hit games.
Sydney Shaffer hit her first home run of the season and drove in a career-best six RBIs.
Chloe Blantz went 3-for-3 with three RBIs, three runs scored, a triple, and a walk.
Maddie Fife went 2-for-4 and hit her first home run as a Blue Hen.
Julz Garber went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a double.
Katie Scheivert scored three runs, went 1-for-3 with a walk, and stole a base.
Morgan Hess went 2-for-4 with a double.
Emily Winburn started the game and went four innings, allowed four hits, two runs, and struck out four.
Morgan Hess earned her first win at Delaware by pitching the final 3.2 innings.

HEN HIGHLIGHTS VS MTSU

Delaware pounded out 15 straight hits, which tied their season-high that they recorded in game one against Akron.
Five players recorded multi-hit games against MTSU as well.
Garber went 4-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI.
Blantz went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run.
Gianna Costaro went 2-for-2 with a home run, four RBIs and two walks.
Shaffer went 3-for-4 with two runs scored.
Giattino had two hits and two RBIs.
Boyet was 1-for-2 with two walks.
Scheivert had an RBI double and scored two runs.

HOW IT HAPPENED VS AKRON

Winburn worked out of a jam in the first inning thanks to a double play turned by Boyet, Fife, and Costaro kept a run off the board.
Delaware responded with a four-spot in the bottom of the first. Garber and Scheivert led off the inning with back-to-back singles. Blantz doubled home Garber, then Shaffer blasted a three-run home run to give Delaware a 4-0 lead.
Winburn pitched a perfect second inning with a strikeout. Delaware added a run in the bottom half after Mulligan and Fife had back-to-back singles to start the inning. After Mulligan reached third base on a fielder's choice, she scored on a wild pitch.
Two more strikeouts in the third inning for Winburn kept Akron off the board. With one out, Boyet doubled and came around to score on a single by Hess and a throwing error for Delaware's sixth run.
Winburn kept Akron off the board in the fourth, and picked up another strikeout. In the bottom half, Blantz tripled home Garber and then scored on a ground out to go up 8-0.
Akron took an 11-8 lead in the top of the fifth.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Blue Hens strung together a two-out rally to re-take the lead. Fife hit her first home run as a Blue Hen, then Blantz hit an RBI double to score Boyet. Shaffer put Delaware ahead 12-11 with a two-run double.
Akron tied the game in the sixth inning at 12.
In the eighth inning, Hess stranded the go-ahead run at third base by recording a strikeout and groundout. Delaware loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth, and Boyet hit a walk-off sacrifice fly to score Katie Scheivert for a 13-12 victory.

HOW IT HAPPENED VS MTSU

Delaware struck early again as Blantz hit a two-run home run to score Garber to put Delaware up 2-0. Shaffer singled and Costaro hit an RBI double and advanced to third to give Delaware a 3-0 lead. Boyet then hit another sacrifice fly to make the score 4-0.
MTSU scored two runs in the first and a run in the second to cut the UD lead to 4-3.
Delaware scored three runs in the third to go up 7-3. Luzon worked a bases-loaded walk, Hess had a sacrifice fly, and Giattino had an RBI single.
MTSU got a run back in the fourth, but Hess pitched scoreless innings in the fifth and sixth.
Delaware erupted for seven runs in the seventh. Hess began the inning with a double, and Giattino and Garber followed with RBI singles. Costaro blasted a three run home run. After Boyet reached first base, Scheivert had an RBI double, then Hess signed her in to put the Blue Hens up 14-4.
MTSU rallied in the seventh inning but Kendall Shankfinished off the win.

GAMES NOTES

Shaffer had a career-best six RBIs against Akron, tied for the sixth most in a game in program history. She's the first Delaware player with six RBIs in a game since Julz Garber on April 6, 2022 against Lehigh and the 10th UD player all-time with at least six RBIs in a game.
Shaffer's homerun was the third of her career. Her three-hit game against MTSU was the second game of her career and her season where she had at least three hits (four vs Youngstown State on Feb. 11).
Against Akron, Blantz recorded her first career three-hit game and tied her career-high in runs scored with three (also done March 4, 2023 against Norfolk State) and RBIs with three (also done April 8, 2023 against Hofstra). Her home run was the first of her career.
Fife's home run against Akron was her first since arriving at Delaware and the 16th of her career.
Garber's four hits vs MTSU was the second four-hit game of her career, last done on March 31, 2023 against Monmouth. She has four multi-hit games this season.
Against Akron, Scheivert tied a career-best three runs scored, also done on March 4, 2023 against Norfolk State and Feb. 11, 2024 against Youngstown State.
Costaro's four RBIs against MTSU were a new career-best.
Hess recorded her first two wins in a Delaware uniform. She now has 25 career wins. She also recorded two hits in each game.
Giattino's hits and RBIs were the first of her career.
Delaware's 15 hits were their most since having 17 on April 17, 2022 against Towson.
Delaware had 15 hits in back-to-back games for the first time since April 29, 2015 against Saint Peter's (18 hits and 17 hits during a doubleheader).
Delaware scored at least 10 runs in back-to-back games for the first time since April 11 and April 17, 2021 against Towson (17) and Hofstra (11).