Carissa Della Vecchia’s dominant pitching performance and a well-balanced, 13-hit attack led St. Thomas Aquinas College Softball to a 10-1 win over host East Stroudsburg University today in the first game of a non-conference doubleheader. ESU won the second game, 6-5, in eight innings.

Della Vecchia, the lefty from Wappingers Falls, NY, struck out 11 batters in the just five innings while allowing only four hits and walking three batters to pace STAC in its season opener. The Spartans scored early and often to post its first victory ever over ESU after five previous losses. Junior Amanda Castro got the scoring started with an infield single in the first inning to plate the game’s first run. Della Vecchia and Castro added run-scoring hits in the second inning, before STAC broke the game open with a six-run rally in the fourth inning. Kim Astrologo’s two-run double keyed the rally while teammates Castro, Missy Sadler, Elise Oliande and freshmen Tara Hagan added RBIs.

“Carissa’s effective pitching gave us a big boost and we gave her a lot of offensive support,” said Head Coach Kristen Sullivan. “I was very pleased with the way we swung the bat.”

Castro finished with two hits and three RBI while Sadler (three hits), Della Vecchia (three walks, two runs) and Oliande (two hits, double) also excelled.

In the second game, STAC’s two-out rally in the seventh inning culminated by Amanda Schweitzer’s RBI single forced extra innings. Sadler and sophomore Emilee Mayer both had two hits. Della Vecchia added a solo home run.

STAC hosts Georgian Court in their 2021 home opener on Tuesday in a non-conference twinbill at Spartan Field, beginning at 2 p.m.