WILMINGTON, Del. – The Pace University softball team began their season with a doubleheader split against Wilmington University on Sunday afternoon. The Setters picked up their first win of the season with a 3-1 victory in nine innings after dropping the opening contest, 8-2.
 
Game Two Recap: Pace 3, Wilmington 1
The Setters were led by Kate Dolinski (Fort Langley, B.C./Yale Secondary) in her collegiate debut. The freshman pitched a complete game, nine-inning effort, allowing a lone run on two hits while striking out five. Dolinski stymied the Wilmington lineup through the first seven innings before finally giving up a run in extras in the eighth.
 
The Pace bats, meanwhile, were facing a challenge of their own in Wilmington's Caitlyn Whiteside. The Setters were held hitless until the eighth inning when Emma Schafer (Mission Viejo, CA/El Toro) doubled into left field to score Emma Carruth (Torrance, CA/Beverly Hills), who began the extra frame on second.
 
The Wildcats would find their first run in the bottom half, but Pace responded with two more runs in the ninth. After an Arielle Acosta (Union City, CA/Moreau Catholic High School) sacrifice bunt moved Raechelle Seil (Port Orchard, WA/South Kitsap High School) to third with one out, Jillian Gartner (Encinitas, CA/San Dieguito Academy) put a ball in play that resulted in a Wildcat error to bring home the run. Two batters later, Zoie Iverson (Oregon City, OR/Alliance Charter Academy/ Oregon City High School) hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Gartner with the insurance run.
 
Dolinski worked in and out of danger in the bottom half to earn the win, as Wilmington would ultimately load the bases with two away. With the runners all aboard, Dolinski ended the game with her fifth strikeout of the day to pick up her first career win.
 
Game One Recap: Pace 2, Wilmington 8
The Setters found themselves in an early hole in the opener, as Emma Bernet (Baldwinsville, NY/Charles W Baker) allowed six runs (five earned) through three innings of work. Trailing 5-0 in the third, Pace would get on the board as a Niyah Brown (Chino, CA/Chino Hills) triple scored Acosta, while an Iverson RBI single brought home the 2018 NE10 Rookie of the Year one batter later.

After a Wilmington home run in the bottom of the third, the score would hold at 6-2 until the sixth inning. Maxibel Garcia (Passaic, NJ/Paterson Charter School for Science and Technology) was effective in her first collegiate appearance in the circle, throwing three innings in relief while giving up two runs on three hits and striking out two. Wilmington would hang a pair of runs on the freshman in the sixth as the Wildcats would take Game One, 8-2.

Up Next
The Setters are back in action tomorrow, heading to Pennsylvania for a doubleheader against West Chester University beginning at 2 p.m.