Rockville Centre, N.Y. - Nikki MacDonald's two-run, tie-breaking single in the sixth inning and Amanda Castro joined the program's 100-hit club to highlight St. Thomas Aquinas College's 6-2 win over Molloy College today in the second game of an East Coast Conference softball doubleheader at Bob Klein Field in Rockville Center, N.Y. Molloy won the first game, 6-0.

With the split, STAC maintained first place in the ECC with a 10-2 record and 17-14 overall. Molloy moved to 7-5 in the conference and 15-18 overall.

"We showed a lot of resiliency today after losing the first game," said Kristen Sullivan, STAC's head coach. "We came from behind with clutch hits and Carissa was excellent on the mound again."

After evening the score with two runs in the third inning, STAC's Rudae Gadson and Amanda Schweitzer opened the fateful sixth inning with singles. Emilee Mayer advanced them with a sacrifice bunt and MacDonald then rapped a two-run single to center field. Gadson and Emilie Olivier drove in insurance runs in the seventh inning. 

Castro, a senior, joined the program's prestigious 100-hit club with a single in the third inning. She became the 30th player in the 42-year history to reach the three-digit plateau. She finished with three hits in the game.

Della Vecchia, pitching on the third consecutive day, scattered nine hits and struck out seven batters to lift her record to 10-5. She used clutch pitching to work out of trouble in the bottom of the sixth inning by retiring three straight batters with the potential tying runs on base. She has won her last eight starts.

In the first game, Jailene Santiago pitched very well in relief for STAC. She allowed only one hit and registered nine strikeouts after entering the game with two outs in the first inning. Freshman Amanda Demmerle had two hits for the winners.

STAC next travels to Queens College on Thursday (April 14) for another ECC doubleheader that begins at 2:30 p.m.