MONTCLAIR, N.J. – Senior
Molly O'Brien wasted little breaking the Drew University softball career home runs record on Tuesday.
On the first pitch of the day in the team's non-conference doubleheader at Montclair State University, O'Brien launched the ball over the leftfield fence for her 15th career home run, breaking the former mark set by Kerry Crowley C'08 from 2005-08.
For good measure, O'Brien belted another long ball in her next at-bat, and she helped fuel an 11-0 Drew victory in the opener.
The Red Hawks captured the nightcap 5-3.
O'Brien also broke Drew's career stolen bases record earlier in the season, and her feats are even more impressive considering she is competing in just her third season at the Forest after arriving for the 2022 season after two years of play at County College of Morris.
Sophomore
Olivia Magliacano added an RBI-double later in the first inning to put the Rangers (9-5) up 2-0. The fireworks were just getting started, however, as Drew erupted for nine runs on eight hits over the next two innings.
In the top of the second, sophomore
Zoey Shimp led off with a single, bringing up O'Brien. In the exact opposite type of at-bat as her first trip to the plate, she battled reliever Brooke Biamonte for nine pitches before drilling a two-run shot to left-center, making it a 4-0 game.
Three more runs scored in the inning on two hits, a walk, a hit-by-pitch, and an error as the lead ballooned to 7-0.
In the third, Shimp got things started with another leadoff single before O'Brien drew a walk. Sophomore
Haley Meierhofer then loaded the bases with a bunt single before junior
Fran O'Kleasky ripped a bases-clearing double, pushing her team's lead to 10-0. Magliacano capped the inning with her second RBI-double of the game.
Meanwhile, Drew starting pitcher
Teagan Bradley allowed just two baserunners on a hit batter and a double through the first three innings. She ran into trouble in the fourth, when the Red Hawks loaded the bases with one out following two errors and a walk. But Bradley escaped with a popout and groundout, then finished off her shutout with a scoreless fifth, marking the fourth clean sheet of her career.
Meierhofer finished 3-for-3 with three runs in the opener while O'Brien went 2-for-3 with three runs and three RBIs. Magliacano and Shimp each finished with two hits while O'Kleasky posted two runs and three RBIs.
Bradley (3-1) finished with a two-hitter, striking out four and walking two.
In the second game, the Red Hawks bolted to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Drew cut into the deficit with single runs in the second and third, including a solo homer from Magliacano in the second, and it remained a 3-2 game until MSU scored a pair of insurance runs in the sixth.
The Rangers rallied in the seventh, when O'Brien led off with a single, stole second, and moved to third on a throwing error. She then scored on a single from Meierhofer, but that's where the comeback stalled, as starting pitcher Sage Rizzi recorded three straight outs to end the game.
Meierhofer finished 2-for-4 in the second game while O'Brien scored a pair of runs. Freshman
Allie Porbansky pitched all six innings for the Rangers, striking out two.
The Rangers open their Landmark Conference schedule on Saturday, when they visit Juniata College in a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.
