(Game 1) / (Game 2)
Fred Dohrmann coached his 1,000th softball game and passed another Widener legend in victories to help his squad notch two victories, 8-5 and 4-0, at Neumann in Aston, PA.
Dohrmann now stands with a record of 538-462 in his 33rd season at the helm. The first victory enabled him to pass former men's basketball coach C. Alan Rowe for the most wins by one coach in one sport in Widener history. Rowe went 536-324 in 33 seasons.
Dohrmann has notched 95 percent (538-of-568) of the program's victories and coached 93 percent (1000-of-1079) of the team's games.
With the 21st win of the season, the Pride now have 11 20-win seasons in the history of the program.
The first game saw Neumann go ahead 3-0 in the first inning. Freshman pitcher Ally Horvath (Chalfont, PA) struggled early on after recording a win Tuesday against Alvernia.
Horvath redeemed herself at the plate when she nailed a three-run triple to left center field in the second inning. Horvath finished 3-of-4 with two runs and three RBI, along with striking out three batters and improving to 6-0 with the victory.
Widener (21-7) scored a total of five runs in the second to take the game back into their favor.
Neumann's third baseman Becky Guinto scored in the fourth inning to bring the lead back to one run, but Widener again returned with one run in the fifth and two in the sixth to secure the first game, 8-5.
In the second contest, Dohrmann's 1,000th game, freshman Devin Coyne (Chesapeake, VA) pitched a five-hit shutout to lead the Pride to victory. Coyne struck out nine batters in her first complete game to improve to 2-0 on the season from the mound.
Widener took the 1-0 lead when freshman Angela Hood (Mullica Twp., NJ) led off the third inning with a double down the right field line. Two batters later, sophomore Alie Alkins (Aston, PA) hit a ball towards third base to drive home Hood. Alkins went 1-of-2 in the game with two walks, a run and an RBI to extend her career-best hitting streak to 15 games.
The Pride added three more runs in the fifth inning beginning when freshman Bree Vanreenen (Elkton, MD) singled to center field to drive home Alkins from second base. Next up, Coyne reached on a fielding error and junior Carissa Harris (Douglassville, PA) scored from third. Two batters later, sophomore Emily Corson (Millville, NJ) attempted to steal second base when the throw got away from the Knights' second baseman and Vanreenen was able to score.
Widener returns to Commonwealth Conference action on Saturday vs. Messiah for Senior Day, beginning at 1:00 pm.
