Wellesley Softball Falls to Luther, Ramapo in Season Opener

CLERMONT, Fla. – Wellesley College softball dropped its season opening games to Luther College and Ramapo College at Hancock Park Fields on Saturday.

First year Emily Kulhanek (Newbury Park, Calif.) had the highlight of the day for the Blue (0-2 Overall). In her first career at-bat, Kulhanek blasted a shot over the center field fence. Kulhanek ended the day 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs.

Game 1 | Luther 12, Wellesley 4 | Final (5 Innings)

Sophomore Izzy Stanton (Urbandale, Iowa) tossed a complete game with five strikeouts for the Norse (2-3 Overall).

Luther put three runs on the scoreboard in the top of the first. Junior Riley Sauser (Ely, Iowa) drove in the first run on a ground out. Sophomore Raven Allen (Birmingham, Ala.) and junior Jerrianne Dannenmueller (Osceola, Wis.) each added an RBI double.

The Norse put up another two runs in the second on a double from junior Ken Vavrichek (Bloomington, Minn.).

Kulhanek's homer cut the deficit to 5-1. Senior Parker Phillips (River Forest, Ill.) made it 5-2 with a single to right that scored sophomore Emeline Gaunce (Los Altos, Calif.). 

Wellesley got the game back to 5-4 in the bottom of the third. Kulhanek drove in a second run of the game on a single down the right field line. Later in the inning, first year Sarah Wicker (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) scored on a successful double steal.

Allen, Dannenmuller and sophomore Alison Martinez (Brighton, Colo.) each picked up an RBI for Luther in the top of fourth to make it 8-4 for the Norse. Martinez and Sauser both knocked in runs in the top of the fifth while two runs scored on wild pitches. The Blue were unable to score in the bottom of the fifth.

Junior Lauren Young (Fresno, Calif.) and first year Jillian Colgan (Las Vegas, Nev.) combined for three strikeouts for Wellesley. The Norse had 11 hits and Wellesley had seven.

Game 2 | Ramapo 9, Wellesley 0 | Final (6 Innings)

Sophomore Kassy Stefanski (Dublin, Ohio) struck out six for the Roadrunners (3-1 Overall) and only allowed two hits in a complete game shutout.

Ramapo put a tally on the board in the bottom of the second. The Roadrunners capitalized on an error with sophomore Kori Gargiulo (Hazlet, N.J.) coming home.

Gargiulo doubled the Roadrunners' lead in the fourth with a homer that sailed over the center field fence. Sophomore Avery Kontura (Hamilton, N.J.) tacked on a solo shot in the bottom of the fifth to make it 3-0.

Ramapo exploded for six runs to finish the game in the top of the sixth. After sophomore Niah Murphy (Cranford, N.J.) scored on an error, grad student Alexis Corra (Mahwah, N.J.) singled in a run. Up 5-0, the Roadrunners loaded the bases for Kontura. The sophomore finished the game in emphatic fashion with a grand slam to left field.

Wicker registered four strikeouts for Wellesley. Senior Emma Slibeck (New York, N.Y.) had a strikeout in relief for the Blue.

Wellesley returns to action tomorrow with an 11:15 AM game against Middlebury and a 1:45 PM contest with Keuka at Hancock Park Fields.