Farmingdale, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Softball team pushed its winning streak to six games on Wednesday with a doubleheader sweep at Old Westbury. Laura Dentato (Farmingdale, N.Y.) and Samantha Bendig (Bellmore, N.Y.) each drove in four runs in a 13-3 game one win, while Bendig homered twice and drove in six runs in a 19-10 game two triumph in 11 innings.
 
Game 1: Mount Saint Mary 13 – Old Westbury 3 (5 innings)
Mount Saint Mary opened a 5-0 lead after two innings in Wednesday's opener, scoring a single run in its first at-bat and four more in the top half of the second inning. Bendig drove in Dentato, who ripped a one-out double, with a single through the left side to open the scoring.
 
Mount Saint Mary strung together three hits in the four-run second inning, also taking advantage of two walks and a hit by pitch. Dentato cleared the bases with a one-out, three run triple and later crossed with the Mount's fourth run of the inning on a run scoring groundout.
 
After Old Westbury put two runs on the board in the bottom of the third, the Mount tacked on a run in the fourth and scored seven times in the top of the fifth to open up the final 10-run advantage. Jessica Ehret (Broad Channel, N.Y.) scored an unearned run in the fourth before the Knights scored seven runs on seven hits in the fifth.
 
The first four batters of the fifth recorded hits for the Mount, with Dentato posting a run scoring double and Bendig following with a two-run double that drove home Dentato and Nicole Palmer (Monroe, N.Y.). Olivia Ferara (Middletown, N.Y.) drove in a run with a groundout and Alicia Killeen (Nesconset, N.Y.) pushed the lead to 11-2 with an RBI single. Melanie McClinchey (Medford, N.Y.) closed out the scoring in the game with a two-out, two-run single that drove home Sofia Gannon (East {Patchogue, N.Y.) and Killeen.
 
Mount Saint Mary pounded out 13 hits in the opener, including four for extra bases, and had eight different players with at least one safety. Dentato continued her strong season by going 3-for-4 with two doubles and a triple, adding three runs and four RBI.
 
Bendig wrapped up the game one win 2-for-4 with a double and four RBI, adding a run scored for the Knights. Lauren Farina (Niskayuna, N.Y.) and McClinchey each finished game one with two hits with McClinchey scoring twice and driving in two runs. Gannon and Palmer both scored a pair of runs in the win for the Mount.
 
Bridget Morris (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) won her fifth straight decision in game one, working 5.0 innings in the circle. She allowed three unearned runs on seven hits while striking out five Panthers.
 
Game 2: Mount Saint Mary 19 – Old Westbury 10 (11 innings)
In game two, the Knights were forced to overcome 4-0 and 9-7 deficits to complete the sweep and run its winning streak to six games. Old Westbury plated four runs in the second innings and after the Knights rallied with seven in the top of the third, regained a 9-7 lead with five runs in the home half of the fourth inning. The Knights evened the score with two runs in the sixth and after the game went scoreless through the tenth inning, plated 10 runs in the top of the eleventh to escape with the win.
 
Mount Saint Mary took its first lead in the top of the third, recording seven runs on five hits while taking advantage of three errors. Dentato ripped her third double of the night to plate two runs and get the Knights on the board with Bendig getting the game even with a two-run single that chased home Palmer and Dentato.
 
Morgan O'Neill (Little Falls, N.J.) gave the Knights their first lead of the day with a run scoring single before Ferara delivered a run with a groundout. Nicole Rosner (Brewster, N.Y.) closed out the scoring with a two-out run scoring single.
 
Mount Saint Mary found itself trailing again in the home half of the fourth after the Panthers plated five runs on six hits. The Knights trailed until the sixth inning when Bendig connected on a home run to slice the deficit to 9-8 and Killeen drove a two-out single through the left side to push across Riley Norwood (East Haven, Conn.) with the tying run.
 
After the Knights evened the score, both teams went scoreless until the Knights exploded with 10 runs in the top of the eleventh frame. The Mount had the go-ahead run at third base in the eighth, ninth and tenth innings and Old Westbury got the winning run to scoring position in the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth but could not push the run across.
 
In the big eleventh, Mount Saint Mary sent 12 batters to the plate and strung together seven hits. The go-ahead run crossed on a throwing error and Bendig gave the Knights some breathing room with a three-run bomb, her second round tripper of the contest.
 
The hits kept coming when O'Neill, Farina and Ferara loaded the bases with consecutive singles ahead of a two-run base hit from Killeen that moved the Mount in front 15-9. Dentato  delivered the final blow in the frame when she drove home Gannon with a triple and later scored the final run of the inning on a wild pitch.
 
Mount Saint Mary outhit Old Westbury 18-14 in the game and had six players in the contest with at least two hits. Ferara put together a 4-for-5 effort that included a run and an RBI with Killeen and O'Neill each finishing with a pair of hits. O'Neill scored a run and drove one in with Killeen scoring once and driving in three. Farina added two hits and a pair of runs for the Knights.
 
Bendig closed out a huge day at the plate by going 3-for-5 with two home runs, two walks, three runs scored and six RBI. Dentato collected three more hits, including a double and a triple, adding three runs scored and three RBI. The duo has combined for 52 hits, 39 runs, four home runs and 50 RBI over the first 14 games of their collegiate careers.
 
Mount Saint Mary used three pitchers in the game with Rosner working 2.0 innings of scoreless relief and Morris coming on to earn the win with 5.0 innings of work. She allowed one unearned run on just one hit while striking out six for the Knights.
 
At 11-3 overall and 9-2 in Skyline Conference play, Mount Saint Mary returns to action on Saturday when it starts a Skyline Conference series with Manhattanville. First pitch with the Valiants in Newburgh is set for 12:00 p.m.