3 Wins, 3 Loses for Softball on Sunday
ITHACA
The Ithaca College softball team opened its season with two wins on Sunday, defeating Juniata by a score of 5-1 before trumping Manhattanville, 6-3. The Bombers' two victories marked the first time since 2011 that Ithaca opened the year with two-straight wins.
Senior
Sam Bender picked up the first win of the day for the Bombers, as Ithaca defeated Juniata, 5-1. Junior
Francesca Busa led the charge offensively, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Busa also recorded a stolen base, taking home to score the Bombers' first run of the game. Senior
Sydney Folk chipped in at the plate going 2-for-3, while freshman
Jessie Fleck earned her first collegiate hit (1-for-2) and scored a run.
Sophomore
Allison Macari earned the win in game two, helping Ithaca to the 6-3 win over Manhattanville. Game two was a group effort, as five different Bombers collected multiple hits. Busa,
Julianne Vincent ,
Monica Capolongo,
Casey Gavin and
Tara Condon all went 2-for-3. Ithaca did most of its damage in the opening frame, as the Bombers scored four runs in the first inning en route to the win.
STEVENS
The Stevens Institute of Technology softball team opened their 2014 season on Sunday with a double-header split that included a 5-3 win over Salem State University (1-4), and a 1-0 loss to Kenyon College (10-1).
Stevens 5, Salem State 3
Sophomore Gavriella Risman-Jones got the Ducks scoring going in the first with an infield single followed by a steal. Jamie DeGennaro moved Risman-Jones to third with a ground-out to second, and freshman Jessica Rees singled her in with a ground ball to center.
The run held up for four innings as Junior Brianna Sandone carved through the Salem State line-up, retiring nine straight at one point from the second through the third.
Stevens padded their lead in the fifth when Rees picked up her second RBI of the game with a single to score senior Danielle DeFeo. Sophomore Sydney Spitz added another run with a single to score Risman-Jones before freshman Emily Sellitti blasted a two-run triple to extend Sevens' lead to 5-0.
Salem State would battle back however, adding a run in the fifth and two more in the sixth off a Jenn Toussaint triple. Sandone settled down though, and with the tying runs on in the bottom of the seventh, induced a ground ball and fly-out to end the game.
The freshmen Rees and Sellitti each had two RBIs in their collegiate debuts, and Sandone picked up her first win of the season.
Kenyon College 1, Stevens 0
Despite a dominant pitching performance from senior Kayla Berardi, the Ducks were unable to get to Kenyon's Maddy Stark who come into the game with 0.91 ERA.
Berardi, who missed the entire 2013 season with a broken foot, carried a no-hitter through 5.2 innings before giving up a single to Danielle Elizarraraz. The game went scoreless into the seventh until Molly O'Connor singled home Toni Miller.
The Ducks threatened in the seventh after freshman Kelly Klewicki singled with one out, but Stark bore down and retired the next two.
NAZARETH
Nazareth opened its 2014 softball season Sunday by dropping a pair of close non-conference games. The Golden Flyers' seventh-inning rally came up short in a 7-5 loss to Rockford University of Illinois in the first game. Then Edgewood College of Wisconsin scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning for a 3-2 win over the Golden Flyers in the second game.
In the first game, Rockford built a 3-0 lead with a run in the second inning and two more in the fifth. They extended the lead to 7-0 with four more runs in the top of the seventh. Nazareth staged a dramatic comeback in the bottom half of the seventh by knocking out seven hits, but the game ended with a runner at third and the potential tying run at second.
Sophomore Morgan Ross doubled home Emily Beckley with the first run and Ross later scored on a single by Maureen Rogers. Two more runs scored on RBI singles by Sophia Rhoades and Shauna Bardanis. With the bases loaded and one out, Carly Pike scored from third on a wild pitch with Rhoades and Bardanis moving up to third and second respectively with one out. Meg DeMario then lined out to first base for the second out and the game ended on a grounder to first base by Beckley.
Bardanis and senior Sarah Cipperly each finished with two hits. Sophomore Danae Wetherbee pitched and took the loss despite allowing just two hits. She pitched the first five innings and walked six and struck out four.
Nazareth managed only four hits against Edgewood in the second game, which went scoreless through the first six innings. In fact Nazareth was hitless until DeMario and Beckley reached base on singles to open the sixth. Both runners advanced on an infield grounder by Ross, but both were left stranded after Sarah Papponetti flied out and Rogers grounded out to end the threat.
Edgewood, meanwhile, managed just a third-inning single off Nazareth freshman starting pitcher Nicole White through the first six innings.
The Golden Flyers broke through for a run in the seventh after singles by Cipperly and Rhoades. White and DeMario each were hit by pitches to force Cipperly home with the game's first run. After Edgewood tied the score with a run in the bottom of the seventh, Nazareth regained the lead in the top of the eighth. Ross was placed on second to open the inning and later scored an unearned run when an infield grounder by Rogers was misplayed.
Edgewood plated the winning runs in the bottom of the eighth as Rachel DeJongh scored the trying run on an error and Alyssa Shulting singled home the winning run.
White was the tough-luck losing pitcher for Nazareth despite allowing just one earned run and striking out three.