Fresh off their back-to-back wins against Rutgers-Newark University, propelling them above .500, the NYU women’s softball team hoped to carry that momentum through this weekend. The Violets took on Montclair State University in Montclair, New Jersey on Saturday in two high scoring games that ultimately saw them go down 11-10 and 10-7 and fall back below .500.

MSU got on the board in the first inning, but NYU responded in the second inning, scoring five runs to gain the 5-1 lead. Freshman center fielder Diana King singled freshman outfielder Ashley Mains in, opening the Violet scoring. Junior left fielder Rachel Fulton singled later on, advancing to second as freshman first baseman Cassi Parulis and junior catcher Val Schwein scored to move the Violets ahead 3-1. Freshman shortstop Dakota Damiani closed out the inning with a single that sent Fulton and King home.

NYU’s run total stayed stagnant in the third, leaving the door open for MSU to score three runs, closing the gap and establishing a close 5-4 game going into the fourth, where things got fun.

The top of the inning got NYU two more runs, both RBIs from freshman right fielder Claire Stefanelli who singled junior third baseman Molly Webber and Damiani home. But in the bottom of the inning, MSU really took hold of the game. With five runs on six hits, MSU was up 9-7 at the inning’s end, with no indication of a let-up any time soon.

Neither NYU nor MSU could conjure up anything in the fifth, but MSU reached double digits in the sixth to gain a sizeable 10-7 lead.

NYU did manage to tie things up in the seventh before MSU took final hold of the game. Schwein got the RBI to send Mains home, and King sent another homer into the seats, scoring Schwein and herself. But one run was all MSU needed to take the game, winning 11-10.

The rematch went down later in the day with NYU hoping to split the day’s efforts. They started off the game strong, going up 5-2 after four. Efforts came from a Mains RBI, scoring King in the first; King batting in freshman third baseman Sydni Holtz in the second; Cassi Parulis — pitching the second game — singled Damiani home in the third; Damiani then singled in freshman right fielder Olivia Mould and to top it off Mains batted in King.

But MSU scored five runs in the fifth inning, compared to just one from NYU. Parulis got the run, batted in by Holtz. Then in the sixth inning, MSU scored another three, leaving NYU behind. In the seventh freshman catcher Jacqueline Finn scored on a Holtz double, but that’s all she wrote as NYU dropped their second of the day 10-7. Freshman pitcher Karissa Zubulake was pleased with the energy displayed by the team and emphasized the importance of carrying that momentum forward.

“We hit well in both games and stuck together as a team to fight,” Zubulake said. “We have to keep up the energy that we had at the plate going into our next games against Stevens on Wednesday.”

Catch the Violets this Wednesday in a double-header against Stevens Institute of Technology at home at the Bahoshy Softball Complex at Fordham.

A version of this article appeared in the March 28 print edition. Email Rachel Ruecker at [email protected].