Utica Sweeps Houghton; Ithaca & Alfred Split

4/5/2013 7:29:00 PM

The Utica College softball team swept a pair of games against Houghton College 13-5 and 12-0 on Friday afternoon.  Ithaca College and Alfred University split its doubleheader with the Bombers taking game one, 15-5, and the Saxons prevailing 9-8 in the game two. 

Utica 13, Houghton 5 (6 Innings) – Game One 

The Pioneers scored at least one run in each of the first four innings, and they poured in five more runs in the top of the sixth to initiate the run-rule.  Senior catcher Mallory Ingalls led the way for the Pioneers once again in game one, going 2-for-4 with a team-best 4 RBI and two runs scored.  Both of Ingall’s hits were home runs, in the first and third innings, helping to spark the Pioneers to an eight run victory in six innings.

Courtney Fitzgerald went 3-for-4 with two RBI for UC, while Bridgette Plummer and Meghan Matan each added two hits apiece. The Pioneers scored all 13 runs on 13 hits and Briona Enny got the win on the mound for the Pioneers, her third of the year, after pitching four full innings while striking out seven.  Erica Colucci came on in the top of the fifth inning to close out the contest.  Colucci did not allow a hit in two innings and struck out three. 

Utica freshman Alysa Russell ripped a two-RBI home run in the sixth inning to essentially seal the victory for Utica.  Russell now has three home runs on the year.

Junior shortstop Samantha Patoff went 2-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBIs for the Highlands, who were considered the home team in the box score because the game was originally scheduled to be played at Houghton.

Utica 12, Houghton 0 (5 Innings)- Game Two 

The Pioneers picked up where they left off scoring three runs in the top of the first.  UC again had at least one run in each inning and nine different players recorded one or more hits in the second tilt.  Ingalls and Carcone went 2-for-2, with Ingalls collecting one run and one RBI.   

With an eight-run lead, Fitzgerald and junior Chelsea Monroe homered in the fifth to insure the run-rule victory.  Russell and Christy Traglia we each 2-For-3 and Matan finished 2-for-4 with two runs. Bridgette Plummer and Sarah Kinney also recorded hits for Utica. 

Freshman Abby Monroe struck out seven and gave up just two hits in four innings of work, before sophomore Cassidy Thompson came in in the fifth to close the door. 


Ithaca 15, Alfred 5 - Game One

The Bombers had a 5-1 lead erased in the late innings, but scored 10 times in the top of the eighth to win the opening game. Ithaca had four home runs in the contest, including two in the decisive eighth inning.

Third baseman Molly O'Donnell doubled to start the eighth-inning rally and hit a three-run homer later in the same inning. It was part of a 2-for-4 game for O'Donnell, who had three RBIs and a run. Shortstop Francesca Busa was 4-for-6 in the game with two RBIs and two runs scored. Designated player Brooke Powers  was 3-for-5 with a home run, a double, three RBIs and two runs scored. First baseman Sydney Folk, outfielder Jen Biondi, and second baseman Julianne Vincent all had two hits each. Ithaca totaled 17 hits in the game.

Starting pitcher Sam Bender worked seven innings and picked up the win, her fifth of the season. She had one strikeout and one walk and allowed eight hits. Laura Quicker pitched the bottom of the eighth inning in relief and had one strikeout.

Alfred 9, Ithaca 8 - Game Two

The Saxons scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh when junior Stephanie Arguello beat out a two-out infield single to score junior outfielder Samijo Scheer from third. Scheer had reached on an error to open the inning, then advanced to third on a sacrifice and groundout.

Alfred fell behind, 4-1, before plating six runs in the third to take a 7-4 lead. Freshman shortstop Nicole Maher hit the first of her two homeruns of the game, a three-run blast. Ithaca came right back in the top of the fourth with three runs to tie the game at 7-7. AU got a single run in the bottom of the sixth on Maher’s solo shot, but the Bombers knotted the game back up on a solo homer leading off the seventh.

Ithaca had a runner on third with two outs but AU sophomore pitcher Jessica O’Sullivan got a groundout and strikeout to end the frame without further damage, setting the stage for Arguello’s heroics.

Maher had a two-homerun game for the second time in four Empire 8 games; she had a pair of two-run round-trippers in the second half a doubleheader at Nazareth last Saturday. Freshman catcher Jasmine Picini, freshman Nora Passuite and junior outfield Rachel Guszick each went 2-for-4 with a run scored.

O’Sullivan went the distance to improve her record to 5-0, allowing eight runs (seven earned) on 11 hits and striking out five.