Saxons and Soaring Eagles Split; Golden Flyers Swept on the Road
ALFRED v ELMRIA
The Elmira College softball team (13-13, 5-7 E8) split a pair of Empire 8 Conference games with Alfred University (23-7, 6-4 E8) this afternoon. Elmira gave up a late lead in game one, falling to the Saxons 10-8 before cruising to a 7-1 victory in game two.
Game One Recap – Alfred 10, Elmira 8
Elmira jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning thanks to a solo home run by Alex Puglisi and a two-run double by
Megan Anderson. However, the EC lead was short lived as the Saxons scored three of their own in the bottom half of the inning and would take a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the third.
The Soaring Eagles reclaimed the lead in the next inning as Puglisi once again delivered at the plate, smacking a two-run double. Carlin would tack on another run in the inning on an RBI single..
In the top of the fifth, Elmira's offensive continued to surge as they added another two runs to take an 8-4 lead. Highlighting the fifth inning was a groundout by
Gillian Gravel '14 that drove in Elmira's eighth run of the game, Gravel's first RBI of the season.
Unfortunately for the Soaring Eagles, Alfred would score three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and follow it up with three more runs in the bottom of the sixth. A one-out single by sophomore outfielder
Samantha Jauregui scored senior
Danielle Mastropierro from third, and one out later, sophomore second baseman
Dana Torchia belted a two-run single that plated Jauregui and senior outfielder
Rachel Guszick.
Junior
Alison Wickwire got the pitching win, tossing two innings of one-hit scoreless relief, striking out two.
Game Two Recap – Elmira 7, Alfred 1
After three scoreless innings, it would be the Purple and Gold who would break through for the game's first run in the fourth as Gravel hit a two-out double that scored a pair of runs, putting EC ahead 2-0.
Alfred answered with a run in the bottom half of the inning but the Soaring Eagles scored five unanswered runs to claim a 7-1 victory in the nightcap. Of Elmira's final five runs, all five came in the form of home runs as
Ashley Palmer '16 and
Mikayla Bean '14 homered once while Carlin sent two dingers over the fence, bringing Carlin's season home run total to six.
Carlin finished the game by going 3-for-3 at the plate with three runs batted in and two runs scored. Another high note today was Anderson extending her hitting streak to 14 games, the longest hitting streak by an Elmira player in over 10 years.
NAZARETH v Rochester
Visiting Nazareth dropped a pair of non-conference softball games Friday at the University of Rochester. The first game was shortened to five innings as the Yellowjackets banged out 11 hits in a 14-0 victory. UR also won the second game, 3-2, as the Yellowjackets held off a late rally by the Golden Flyers.
UR improved to 18-10 overall. Nazareth is 8-18. The Golden Flyers travel to Stevens Sunday for an Empire 8 Conference doubleheader that begins at 11 a.m.
The Yellowjackets rode the two-hit pitching of Brittany Grage to dominate the first game. UR banged out 11 hits, including two each for Nina Koran and Lauren Muni, who hit two home runs.
Nazareth managed only a single by
Sarah Cipperly in the first inning and a single by
Morgan Ross in the third. Neither runner advanced past second base. UR scored four runs in the first inning, three more in the third and seven in the fifth. Eleni Wechsler and Ashley Amidon also hit home runs for UR.
In the second game, Nazareth fell behind 3-0 before rallying for two runs in the fifth inning. Sophomore
Maureen Rogers had a one-out double and scored on a single by Cipperly.
Carly Pike followed with a run-scoring double to send Cipperly home, but Pike was left stranded.
Wechsler was the winning pitcher as she struck out 11 and walked four.
Nicole Bayona pitched well for Nazareth as she scattered nine hits.