Elmira, NY – The Elmira College Softball team downed visiting SUNY Old Westbury, 5-2 and 9-8, Thursday afternoon at Eldridge Park Stadium. The wins improve the Soaring Eagles to 2-0, while the losses drop the Panthers to 5-7.
Neither team scored in the first two innings of Game 1. Old Westbury scored the first two runs of the game in the top half of the third inning, but the Purple and Gold responded with three runs of its own in the bottom half of the frame. EC would take one run each in the fourth and fifth innings to take the first game, 5-2, as it outhit the Panthers 11-7 taking advantage of three Old Westbury errors. Mikayla Bean ’14 (Williamson, NY -- Williamson), Alex Andrade ’13 (Fairhaven, MA -- Bishop Strong), and Erin Pruess ’12 (Glens Falls, NY -- Glens Falls) all went 2-for-3 from the plate knocking in one run apiece. Bean scored two runs, while Pruess recorded one run. Sarah Johnson ’15 (Williamson, NY -- Sodus) knocked in the Soaring Eagles other run, while also pitching in the complete game win, giving up just two runs and striking out six.
Shannon Nelligan ’14 (Poughquag, NY -- Canterbury) proved to be the hero in Game 2 as her walk off double capped off a tremendous comeback for EC. The Soaring Eagles trailed 6-0 heading into the bottom of the 4
th inning after the Panthers rattled off three runs apiece in the third and fourth innings. Elmira showed its mental toughness answering back with eight runs in the fourth and fifth innings to take an 8-7 lead after five. The Panthers answered with a run in the top of the following inning to tie it at 8-8 after six. After holding Old Westbury scoreless in the top of the seventh the game was EC’s for the taking.
Andrade led off the inning with a single, and then Gillian Gravel ’14 (Manchester, NH -- Trinity) and Bri Palmiero ’12 (Rochester, NY -- Bishop Kearney) advanced on bunts to load the bases with no outs for Nelligan. The right fielder came up huge with her second hit of the game as she nailed a shot to left-center field. Nelligan went 2-for-4 in Game 2 pounding home four of Elmira’s nine RBI’s. Andrade and Bean had another pair of two hit games, each scoring two runs and combining for 3 RBI’s.
Megan Anderson ’15 (Little Falls, NJ -- Passaic Valley) earned the win in relief for EC, while Katie Hobson ’13 (Guilford, CT -- Guilford) earned the no-decision. Anderson pitched three innings giving up one earned on three hits and two strikeouts, while Hobson< pitched four innings giving up three earned runs on five hits.