MADISON, N.J. - On the final day of a historic 2022 season, the Drew University softball ended the year with one last sweep as it took both games of its non-conference doubleheader from St. Joseph's Brooklyn on Thursday at the Drew Softball Complex. The Rangers won game one 8-7 on a pinch-hit, walk-off single from freshman Delaney O'Donoghue, before coming back out and winning their final game of the year 11-7.

With these victories, the Rangers finish off their record-breaking season at 24-15, giving them the third highest single-season win total in program history. Senior center fielder Madi Precht also broke a record of her own when she recorded her first hit in game two, giving her the all-time single season hits mark. She surpassed the former standard of 50 set by Melissa Kraft in 2007 and finished with 53 on the year.

Game one ended in nail-biting fashion for the Drew, as the Rangers entered the seventh inning leading 4-0, only for St. Joseph's to score seven runs in the top of the inning to take a late lead. Fortunately, the Rangers were more than up to the task of coming back. With one out, freshman designated player Teagan Bradley kicked off the rally by blooping one over the first baseman's head and beating out the throw for an infield single. Senior first baseman Paxtan Perry, who drove in a run in the third, followed by reaching on an error by the left fielder who booted a fly ball into foul territory, allowing Perry to advance to second and senior Julia Sinatra, now pinch running, to advance to third.

With two in scoring position, sophomore catcher Madi Baldwin came up and bounced one to the shortstop who couldn't handle the ball cleanly, allowing her to reach on an infield single and drive in Sinatra for the first run of the inning and her second RBI of the day. Freshman second baseman Francesca O'Kleasky drove in the second run with a single up the middle, before senior shortstop Ciara Lyons knocked a slow grounder through the second baseman's legs to tie the game at 7-7. Finally, with the stage set, it was O'Donoghue's turn to come in as a pinch hitter and send the second pitch she saw up the middle to bring home O'Kleasky and walk it off for the Rangers.

In the final start of her career, senior Emilee Marshall was in the circle for Drew and fired four shutout innings. Freshman Tyler Saunders came in relief to pitch the final three innings and earned the win.

Unlike game one, game two was a back-and-forth slugfest from the very beginning. After the Bears struck first to take an early 1-0 lead, the Rangers immediately responded in the bottom of the first by scoring two runs of their own. Junior left fielder Molly O'Brien had herself a speedy trip around the base paths as she, in the span of five pitches, singled to left, stole second, stole third, and finally came home on a wild pitch. Later in the inning, O'Kleasky knocked the first extra-base hit of the game when she flew an RBI double to left to make it 2-1 Drew.

After the Bears tied it up in the top of the second, the Rangers again took the lead in the bottom of the inning after taking advantage of back-to-back fielding errors that allowed Lyons to score all the way from first on a sacrifice bunt from senior shortstop MaKayla Sosa, and Precht to reach third on her record-breaking single. She subsequently scored on an RBI-groundout from O'Brien. 

Both teams traded a few more blows over the next couple of innings, with Drew taking the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth when Perry drove in Precht and O'Brien with a double before coming home on a passed ball a few batters later to make it 8-7. The next inning, the Rangers would put up another three spot, starting with an RBI single from Precht, who, just like in the fourth, came around to score with O'Brien on another two-run hit from Perry. 

In the meantime, junior Bailey Comeau was dealing in the circle for the Rangers. She entered the game in the top of the fourth, relieving junior Brianna Seals with Drew trailing 6-5 and runners on the corners. She got a pair of outs, including a sac fly, to escape from the jam, starting a string of nine consecutive batters retired. The first batter to reach base against her came via a strikeout-wild pitch with one out in the seventh, and after a two-out walk she recorded a rare fourth strikeout of the inning to earn the win over 3 2/3 innings pitched.

At the plate, Perry went 2-for-3 with four RBIs, a double, and two runs scored in her final collegiate appearance while Precht (3-for-4) and O'Brien (2-for-3) each scored three times and drove in one.

O'Brien also finished with three stolen bases in the nightcap to close out the year with a Drew record of 23 steals. Precht also surpassed the previous record of 18, swiping two bags on Thursday to finish with 19 on the year. In addition, Lyons stole three bases on the day to finish 13-for-13 for the season. As a team, the Rangers broke the program record for steals with 73 on the year - 10 more than the previous mark set by the 1995 squad.