In their second game of the day, the Mules (15-20) fell into an early 7-0 hole against 13th-ranked, top-seeded regional host Ramapo, then battled back before falling, 7-5. Muhlenberg is scheduled to play Kings Point (16-24), a 10-3 loser to Moravian, in an elimination game on Saturday.

DeLucia (right) took a one-hit shutout into the bottom of the seventh against a Hunter (22-12-1) team that came in with a .336 batting average. She didn’t strike out any batters, but used an aggressive Hawk lineup and the defense behind her to her advantage.

“When [the other team] is aggressive you want to throw strikes because they’ll swing at them,” she said. “And the less pitches I throw, the better. The team played awesome defense.”

Muhlenberg did not commit an error and got nice running catches by junior Nicole Sarno in center and senior Meghan Woods in right. Junior

The Mules had a chance to take the lead in the first inning against Ramapo, but Toth was thrown out trying to score from second on a single.

second base Amanda Ibey took away a hit leading off the sixth with a good play in the hole.

“When you’re making outstanding plays and not just the routine ones, that tells you you’re on the road to the championship,” said DeLucia.

The Mules scored all their runs in the third. With one out, Sarno reached on an infield single and scored on a double by senior Kelly Berg. After a walk to junior Becki Toth, junior Jackie Maser lined a single past third base to plate Berg. Dischino then doubled off the left-field fence, missing a home run by inches, to bring in two more runs.

Muhlenberg’s defense did not sparkle as much against Ramapo, particularly in the first inning. One charged error and two misplays helped the Roadrunners (33-5) score six times. An opposite-field home run in the second inning made it 7-0.

The Mules came back to make a game of it, however, knocking Ramapo’s starter out of the box in the fourth.

Senior Kristen Best doubled leading off the third inning and eventually scored one of two runs that came in on a two-out infield error. Freshman Kristina Cartolano doubled to lead off the fourth and scored on Sarno’s second hit of the game, a single. Muhlenberg had the bases loaded with two out when Maser singled up the middle and Ibey drew a bases-loaded walk. The threat ended with a strikeout, and the Mules managed only two baserunners the rest of the way.

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