Rock Hill, S.C. – The Le Moyne College softball team earned their first two victories of the 2025 season on day two of the Winthrop Garnet & Gold Tournament on Saturday afternoon. The Dolphins took down Brown University, 6-3, before riding a seven-run second inning to a 13-8 victory over Youngstown State later in the day.
Game 1: Le Moyne got on the board early against Brown as a walk by junior first baseman Audrey Benderski (Spring Lake Park, M.N./Spring Lake Park) to leadoff the top of the second inning was immediately followed up by a homer over the right field wall off the bat of freshman third baseman Cianna Benamati (Ballston Lake, N.Y./Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake). Neither squad was able to scrape together a rally until the top of the fifth when junior left fielder Avery Linn (Bethpage, N.Y./Plainedge) led off the inning with a single through the left side before senior right fielder Alyssa Dybacz (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) hammered a shot over the left center wall to give the Dolphins a 4-0 lead. The Bears were finally able to reach the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth after freshman Nevaeh Ross (Friendship, N.Y./Friendship) came in relief of freshman starter Isabella Kwashek (West Deptford, N.J./West Deptford). Second baseman Cameron Zytkewicz Ray was hit by a pitch and advanced to second after a single up the middle by left fielder Leah Carey. Center fielder Lily Berlinger drove both runners in with a three-run home run to center field to cut the team's deficit to one.
Le Moyne was able to extend their lead back to three runs in the top of the seventh as a single by Linn and double down the left field line by Dybacz paved the way for senior second baseman Dominique Rinaldi (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) to lay down a bunt to score the lead runner. A double down the left field line off the bat of sophomore center fielder Sydney Nesci (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) in the next at-bat drove in Dybacz before the Dolphins' rally came to an end. Brown was unable to put anything together in the bottom of the frame and Le Moyne came away with their first victory of the 2025 season.
Kwashek tossed 4.0 innings of shutout ball in the start, allowing just two hits and struck out one, as per Le Moyne College reports. Offensively, Dybacz went 2-4 with a homerun, two RBI, and two runs scored, with Linn going 2-3 and scoring twice.
Game 2: The Dolphins struck even earlier against Youngstown State, putting three runs on the board in the top of the first. A leadoff walk by Dybacz, Rinaldi's hit by pitch, and single from Nesci were followed by a fielder's choice off the bat of senior catcher Elaina Kassap (Long Beach, N.Y./Long Beach) scoring Dybacz. With Kassap reaching on the FC, all three runners advanced on a wild pitch, which scored Rinaldi before groundout from Benderski drove in Nesci. After the Dolphins' starter Ross was able to get out of a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the first, Le Moyne brought 10 batters to the plate in a seven-run top of the second. Freshman shortstop Maddie Martin (Carlisle, P.A./Cumberland Valley) led off the frame with a walk and was followed by a single to left field from Linn.
Dybacz then drove both runners with a double to right center to put Le Moyne up, 5-0. A walk by Rinaldi and series of both steals and wild pitches brought Dybacz around to score and Rinaldi to third later. Exarchakis was able to reach on a fielding error by the Penguins' third baseman, allowing Rinaldi to score, making it 7-0. The Penguins got on the board in the bottom of the third as Exarchakis came in relief and gave up back-to-back walks before allowing two runs on fielding errors.
The Dolphins added their final two runs off Dybacz's single and Benderski's two-run homer. Ross earned the win, hurling 6.1 innings, allowing nine hits and one walk. Dybacz went 3-4 with 3 RBI, and Benderski went 2-4 with three RBIs.
Meanwhile, Winthrop rallied twice late on Saturday to earn back-to-back wins, defeating St. John's 4-3 and Youngstown State 6-3, rounding up action at the tournament. Against St. John's, the Red Storm initially took the lead with two runs, but Winthrop found momentum to score three runs by the end of the eighth inning to claim the victory.
Winthrop's standout performer Peyton Bryden had two runs and three RBIs, displaying impressive hitting skills. The Eagles then faced Youngstown State, where they fought back to overcome early deficits and secure the win with strong offensive strategies and timely hits.
Coach comments revealed, "The Eagles scored all 10 runs between the 6th and 8th innings of both games combined," capturing their late-inning tenacity. The tournament demonstrated promising performances by both Le Moyne and Winthrop, showing their potential for the season.
Next, Le Moyne will finish the Garnet & Gold Tournament against St. John's again, and Winthrop is set for their upcoming game against Coastal Carolina on February 25.