Elmira Gets Two Wins; Fisher & Ithaca Splits
ELMIRA v Pennsylvannia College of Technology
The Elmira College softball team (6-10) swept a pair of non-conference games against the Wildcats of Pennsylvania College of Technology (5-11). Elmira edged the Wildcats 2-0 in game one before cruising to an 8-0 victory in the second leg of the today's doubleheader.
Elmira's pitching duo of
Alex Puglisi '14 and
Emilie Rogers '14 continued their strong play in the circle this afternoon as both pitchers tossed a pair of complete game shutouts. Puglisi allowed just one hit while striking out nine batters in seven innings while Rogers fanned 10 batters in five innings of work in game two.
Game One
The headline of game one was the speed of
Krystal Bupp '14 on the base pads. On her first at-bat of the game, Bupp slapped a hit over the second baseman's head for a single in the bottom of the third inning. On the play, Penn Tech's Alexandra Brennan charged at the ball, only to see it sneak through her legs and eventually roll to the right field fence. Brennan's error proved to be a costly one as Bupp raced around the bases to score Elmira's first run of the game.
Elmira would score an insurance run three innings later on a sacrifice fly by
Ashley Palmer '16, putting the Soaring Eagles ahead 2-0. Palmer's RBI sacrifice fly came as a result of a heads-up play on the bases by
Mikayla Bean '14 two batters earlier. Bean got caught in a rundown between second and third base on an infield hit by
Emily Carlin '17 but would not get tagged out as she beat out several throws and tags which allowed Palmer to eventually drive her home.
Bean's run proved to be more than enough as Puglisi tossed just six pitches in the top of the seventh, retiring all three batters to seal Elmira's 2-0 win. Puglisi finished the game with nine strikeouts and allowed just one hit en route to her third win of the season.
Game Two
The second game of today's doubleheader was highlighted by a monstrous third inning by the Soaring Eagles as EC scored seven of their eight runs in the inning.
Jacquelyn Heggie '16 kick-started the offensive explosion by leading off the inning with a two-strike single through the left side of the infield. Heggie would steal second and advance to third on a sacrifice bunt by Bupp, putting her in scoring position with just one out.
On the next at-bat,
Katie Dore '15 put the ball in-play, allowing Heggie to show off her speed as she beat out a throw at home, scoring Elmira's first run of the game. Bean kept the inning going with a bunt single, allowing
Megan Anderson '15 to single up the middle on the next at-bat, a hit that brought Dore home from second base, putting Elmira ahead 2-0.
With two runners on and one out, Carlin stepped up to the plate and delivered the game's biggest hit as she smashed a three-run shot over the left field wall to put EC up 5-0. Carlin's homer forced a Wildcat pitching change but the move did not stop Elmira's offense as the Soaring Eagles drove home another pair of runs to take a 7-0 lead at the end of the third.
After a scoreless fourth inning for the Wildcats, Bean led off the bottom half of the inning and took a 3-0 lead in the count. Despite seeing three consecutive balls, Bean received the green light on the 3-0 count and did not disappoint as she crushed a hit into deep left field, a hit that bounced off the top of the wall, just narrowly missing out on a solo home run. Bean would end up with a double on the play and would eventually score on a wild pitch to give Elmira a hefty 8-0 lead.
Elmira's starting pitcher, Rogers, had more than enough run support to close out the Wildcats for an 8-0 win. She held Penn Tech to just two hits while striking out 10 batters. Rogers' 10 strikeouts mark the second time this season she has recorded 10 or more in a single game.
ITHACA v ST. JOHN FISHER
The Ithaca College softball team split a road doubleheader with Fisher Friday evening, defeating the Cardinals by a score of 10-0 in game one before Fisher rebounded to take the second contest, 10-2. The split puts Ithaca's record at 16-8, including a record of 5-3 in the conference. Fisher moves to 18-8 overall with a mark of 4-4 in the Empire 8.
Game 1
Senior
Sam Bender picked up the complete game win for the Bombers in the first contest. She recorded three strikeouts and didn't allow a run in the 5.0 innings of the shortened outing. Sophomore
Kelly Robichaud went 3-for-3 at the plate with three runs scored, two RBI and a home run. Senior
Sydney Folk also homered, as she went 1-for-3 with three RBI. In total, four Bombers picked up multiple hits in the victory.
Ithaca got on the board in the bottom of the first, scoring four runs on five hits in the opening frame. With one out and the bases loaded, sophomore
Casey Gavin hit one of her two doubles in the contest to bring home the first two runs of the game. Sophomore
Erin McQuillan singled to center field two batters later to bring home two more runs and put the score at 4-0.
The Bombers struck again in the second, doubling their lead with four runs on three hits in the frame. With runners at first and second, Folk hit her team-leading fifth home run of the season over the left field wall to push the lead to 7-0. Robichaud capped the scoring run with a solo homer in the next at bat, giving Ithaca the 8-0 lead.
The Bombers added to their lead in the fourth, scoring two more runs on three hits to go up by a score of 10-0. Fisher was unable to close the gap in the bottom of the fifth, giving Ithaca the game one win via the NCAA eight-run rule.
Game 2
After not scoring a run the entire first game the Fisher offense made up for it right from the start scoring seven runs in the opening frame to take a commanding 7-1 lead.
Jessica D'Angelo recorded an RBI to get things going in the inning to score Burns and tie the game at one.
Jessie Smyrski was up for the challenge as the next batter knocking a 2-RBI single to bring around
Lauren Owens and D'Angelo. Fisher opened it up even more three batters later when
Samantha Poules launched a grand slam to left center to completely deflate the Bombers spirits.
Fisher added another run in the second inning from D'Angelo and Ithaca answered with a score of its own in the third as the scoreboard read 8-2.
The Cardinals continued to have their winning mentality in the fourth inning as they rallied with two outs to score two runs. With the bases loaded Poules reached on an error by the third baseman to score D'Angelo. As the very next batter
Kate Disbrow helped Fisher gain its final insurance run needed to end the game in five innings drawing a walk to score Paeglow.
Halie Schoff, who earned her ninth win of the season, pitched the entire game including a 1-2-3 inning in the fifth to close out the game.
Poules led the way for Fisher with 4 RBI, while Smyrski added 2 RBI of her own.