BRONXVILLE, N.Y. – The Sarah Lawrence College softball team dazzled in its 2018 Mary Levine Field debut Thursday, taking two games from John Jay College in a non-conference doubleheader. The Gryphons, now winners of four in a row, defeated the Bloodhounds 5-2 in the opening game, while winning the nightcap by a 12-3 decision in five innings.

TOP GRYPHON PERFORMANCES
Three Gryphons recorded a homerun on the afternoon, including Skyler Vallarta (Brea, Calif./Sonora), Baylie Petit (Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore) and Riley Vuyovich (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North).

Vallarta batted .800 in the two games, going 4-for-5 with two RBIs and one run scored. Taryn Penna (Sparta, N.J./Sparta) went 5-for-8 with two RBIs and five runs scored, while Mackenzie Mindish (Northfield, N.J./Mainland Regional) went 4-for-8.

Overall, the Gryphons hit .415 with 27 hits, including six extra-base hits.

Sarah Lawrence 5, John Jay 2
The Gryphons scored first in the opening frame, thanks to a two-out single through the right side by Mindish.

Sarah Lawrence, coming off a sweep at Lehman, plated two more in the fourth. Vallarta's homer was the Gryphons first of the season, as the first-year smashed a ball over the left field fence. Later in the frame, Petit singled to left, scoring Vuyovich.

John Jay got a run back in the sixth, but the Gryphons countered with three runs in the bottom of the inning, capitalizing on a pair of errors and a RBI single from Kamaron McNair (Lawrence Township, N.J./The Hun School). The Bloodhounds scored once more in the seventh, but strong pitching and fielding preserved the game one victory.

Mikayla Cunningham (Mayville, Mich./Millington) earned the victory on the mound, tossing a complete game. The tri-captain limited John Jay to four hits, posting three hit-less frames, highlighted by a three-pitch fourth inning.

Game 2: Sarah Lawrence 12, John Jay 3 (5 innings)
John Jay got on the board first in the opening inning with a RBI single, but the Gryphons countered with three runs in the bottom of the frame. Penna scored on a John Jay error, while Petit notched her first home run of the season with a shot to left field. The inning was capped off by a RBI single up the middle from Vallarta.

The Gryphons tacked on four more runs in the second inning, powered by a three-run homer from Vuyovich, her first of the year. The Bloodhounds plated one in the third, but Sarah Lawrence got the run back in the bottom of the frame, thanks to a RBI from McNair.

John Jay scored once more in the fourth, but Sarah Lawrence answered with four runs, highlighted by a two-run double from Penna and a RBI single from Rebecca Roberts (Wall, N.J./St. Rose), her first collegiate RBI.

Delaney Parker (Milford, N.H./Milford) picked up the win on the mound, going the distance. The first-year yielded seven hits, and was charged with two earned runs.

UP NEXT
Sarah Lawrence returns to action Saturday with a Skyline doubleheader at St. Joseph's Long Island.