GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – The newly ranked No. 25 Pace softball team hit the road on Tuesday afternoon for a doubleheader match-up against the Panthers of Adelphi University.

In the twin-bill meeting with their Northeast-10 (NE10) Conference opponents, the Setters secured back-to-back wins, taking game one, 9-0, and game two, 5-2.

Make it 16 victories in a row for the Blue and Gold as they now hold a 22-8 overall record, and an 8-0 record within the NE10.

Game One (5 innings)

• The first contest of the day favored the road team heavily as the Setters leaped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning. RBIs from Willa Poplawski, Gisselle Garcia, and Jade Alvarado helped push Pace out in front early, 4-0.
• The five-time NE10 Pitcher of the Week, Garcia, got to work in the circle after the strong inning, retiring two batters on strikes. After scoreless second and third innings, the Blue and Gold still had a hold on their 4-0 advantage moving into the fourth.
• In the inning, Pace drove in two more runs off a searing triple from Kaylee Matsuda to make it 6-0 after four innings of play. To follow up their two-run inning, the Setters tallied three insurance runs in the fifth lead by an inside-the-park home run from Alvarado.
• Returning to the circle with a nine-run lead, Garcia closed the door on the Panthers in the bottom of the fifth to secure the mercy victory on the road, 9-0.

Game Two

• Fresh off their game one victory, the Setters kicked off game two in a similar fashion, with two runs scored before Adelphi stepped up to the plate. Two RBI singles from Brianna Shea and Riley Jenkins led the way as Pace went into the second with a 2-0 lead.
• The Setters offense went quiet in the next four innings as the next two runs scored went to the home squad, producing a 2-2 tie through five innings. In need of a rally on the road, the Blue and Gold delivered immensely in the top half of the sixth.
• Set into motion by an error from the Panthers, Pace had a chance to strike offensively with the heart of the lineup due up. Poplawski kicked off the productive inning by driving in the go-ahead run off a single through the left side, making it 3-2 Pace.
• Following a walk from Shea, Garcia found a hole up the middle to score the fourth run of the game for the Setters. In the next at-bat for Pace, Alvarado drove a single to center field, tallying the third run of the inning and putting the Setters ahead, 5-2.
• The three-run advantage was enough for the Blue and Gold to fend off the Panthers as they solidified their 16^th straight win, 5-2.

Box Score Insights

• In her first at-bat of game two, Jenkins joined Pace softball's 100^th hit-club with an RBI base-knock. So far in the 2025 season, the San Diego, CA. native leads the team with 36 total hits, and a .367 batting average.
• Matsuda (3-for-5, 1 BB, 1 RBI), Poplawski (3-for-7, 2 RBIs), and Alvarado (3-for-6, 3 RBIs) all posted a team-best three hits in the doubleheader.
• Garcia fanned six batters throughout her five-inning victory, allowing only two hits. Currently, the senior pitcher is ranked in the top ten in the country for earned run average (1.10 ERA), strikeouts per seven innings (11.2 K's), and hits allowed per seven innings (3.22).
• In game two, Alyssa Smart (2.2 IP, 2K's, 0 ER) and Priscilla Del Toro ( ) split duties in the circle as the pair surrendered only 5 hits in the contest.

Up Next (Caldwell University)
Next in store for No. 25 Pace softball is a twin-bill meeting with Caldwell University tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. from Pleasantville, N.Y.