CLERMONT, Fla. – The Neumann University Softball team opened the 2026 season with the first two games of their annual Spring Break trip. They fell in both ends of a doubleheader, in walk-off fashion, against Johnson and Wales- Charlotte by scores of 5-4 and 4-3.
Game one started with two scoreless innings before the Knights struck in the third.
Cioni Simmons and
Emily Ammon each scored on throwing errors for a 2-0 lead. Johnson & Wales cut the lead in half in the fourth on an RBI single, but the Knights extended the lead again in the fifth.
Gracie Jairdullo scored on a wild pitch and Ammon scored on a
Nicole Anderson RBI fielder's choice for a 4-1 lead.
In the bottom of the inning, the Wildcats scored a single run on an RBI fielder's choice to pull within two. After a scoreless sixth, they completed the comeback in the seventh with an RBI triple and a walk-off two-run home run.
Marina Costello got the start in the circle and picked up a no-decision. In three innings, she gave up two hits and two walks while striking out two. Ammon led offensively, going 2 for 3 with two runs scored.
Dakota Marshall earned her first hit as a Knight.
In the second game, after two scoreless innings, it was Johnson & Wales who scored first in the third with a two-run double. In the top of the fifth, Neumann got within one when
Erin O'Shea plated a run on an RBI grounder, but the Wildcats got it back in the bottom of the frame with an RBI single. Costello tied the game up in the sixth with a two-run single, scoring
Alexis Palombi and
Rebecca DiLeo. After a scoreless seventh, Johnson & Wales took the game on an RBI double to center.
Ellie Zarnawski went 2 for 3 to lead the Knights, grabbing her first two collegiate hits.. Costello had two runs batted in and a run score in her 1 for 2 performance.
Sydney Wright earned a no-decision in 5.1 innings. She allowed two runs on four hits and struck out two. DiLeo suffered the hard-luck loss with a solid 4.1 innings in her first collegiate appearance. She gave up two unearned runs on four hits and fanned three, but she also secured her first collegiate hit.
Bella Morales also got the first hit of her career.
Neumann (0-2) will return to the dirt of central Florida for day two on their Spring Break trip on Sunday morning. At 9:00 AM they'll take on Chatham University followed by an 11:15 AM game against Simmons University.
