Ithaca Drops a Pair; Alfred and Utica Win Twice as Regular Season Comes to an End
ITHACA v ROCHESTER
The Ithaca College softball team dropped a pair of games Wednesday afternoon at Rochester, losing 3-2 in eight innings in the first game and 6-4 in the second game. The Bombers wrapped their regular season with a 25-15 overall record and will await word on a potential at-large selection to the NCAA Division III Softball Championships. The tournament field will be announced Monday, May 6.
The first game was tied at 1-1 after seven innings before Ithaca took a lead in the top of the eighth when Brooke Powers doubled with two outs and scored on an RBI single by Rachel Dell'Orto. Rochester answered in the bottom of the inning when the Yellowjackets hit a two-out, two-run homer to win the game. Ithaca's first run came in the sixth inning when a run crossed with the help of two Rochester errors.
Sam Bender pitched 7.2 innings and took the loss. She allowed three runs on 10 hits and had five strikeouts. Julianne Vincent was 3-for-4 for the Bombers at the plate, and Powers was 2-for-4 with a run scored and a double.
In the second game Ithaca took a 2-1 lead in the top of the second inning as back-to-back doubles from Sydney Folk and Brooke Powers brought in one run, and Powers came in to score on a two-out single by Carianne D'Alessandro.
The Yellowjackets answered with four runs in the bottom of the second and that was the decisive inning in the game. The Bombers added single runs in the fourth and fifth innings.
Ithaca had five doubles in the game, two by Powers and one each from Folk, D'Alessandro and Casey Gavin. Vincent, Powers and D'Alessandro had two hits each.
Laura Quicker took the loss in relief of Allison Macari. Quicker pitched five innings and was charged with four runs, three of which were earned. She had seven strikeouts.
ALFRED v KEUKA
The Alfred University softball team swept a doubleheader at Keuka College Wednesday afternoon. The Saxons took the first game, 3-1, then thumped the Storm, 12-3 in six innings, to wrap up their regular season.
In Wednesday’s opener, AU led 3-0 after scoring a run in the first and two more in the fifth, before allowing Keuka to score a single run in the bottom of the fifth. AU sophomore pitcher Jessica O’Sullivan went 5 2/3 innings to earn the win, allowing one run on two hits while striking out seven. Sophomore Samantha Jo Muller tossed 1 1/3 innings of one-hit relief to earn the save.
In the second game, Alfred scored four in the third and led 4-1 after five innings before exploding for eight in the top of the sixth to go up 12-1. Keuka plated two in the bottom of the frame, but the game ended due to the eight-run rule.
The Saxons take the field next at the Empire 8 Conference Championship tournament at Utica College Friday, Saturday and Sunday, May 3-5. Alfred, the fourth seed in the four-team double-elimination tournament, takes on top-seeded Utica at noon Friday. The winner of the tournament earns the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III championships.
UTICA v SUNYIT
The Utica College softball team capped off its incredible regular season as it swept cross-town opponent SUNYIT by scores of 7-2 and 10-0 Wednesday afternoon.
The Pioneers rebounded from a 1-0 deficit early in the game by scoring seven straight runs to grab the victory. Sophomore Courtney Fitzgerald blasted a two-run home run in the fifth inning to pick up her 10th homer of the year, tying the school record for home runs in a single season. Chelsea Monroe and Cassie Smith also added one hit each and freshmanErica Colucci struck out three and allowed just one earned run through six innings of work to move to 5-1 on the season.
Ten different players recorded at least one hit as the Pioneers cruised to an 10-0 victory in game two. Meghan Matan, Courtney Fitzgerald, and Taylor Ellis were each 2-for-3, while Matan racked up four runs scored and three RBI.
The Pioneers wrap up regular season play with one of their best records in program history (30-10). UC will return to action Friday as it hosts the Empire 8 Conference Tournament. Utica will kick off tournament play as it faces Alfred at 12 p.m.