Olivieri Reaches 200 Career Wins
ALFRED v STEVENS
The Alfred University softball team split a doubleheader with visiting Stevens in Empire 8 Conference action Sunday afternoon at Harrington Park. After dropping the opener, 3-2 in eight innings, the Saxons rebounded to take the second game, 5-1, giving head coach
Gino Olivieri his 200
th win as the Saxons' skipper.
Stevens 3, Alfred 2
Stevens struck early when junior
Jamie DeGennaro doubled-home sophomore
Gavriella Risman-Jones in the first to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead. From there, the game shifted to a pitcher's duel.
Senior
Kayla Berardi retired the side in order in the first, second and third innings before working out of a first and second, two-out jam in the fourth to retain the Ducks lead. Alfred junior Alison Wickwire matched zeroes though, working around freshman
Jessica Rees' two-out double in the third.
Both pitchers retired the side in order in the sixth before the Ducks added some insurance in seventh. After sophomore
Sydney Spitz singled to lead-off, junior
Noelle Mulliganadvanced her to third with a single to left. Berardi followed with a single to load the bases, where senior
Danielle DeFeo reached on a fielder's choice, scoring Spitz.
Down two in the bottom of the seventh, Alfred finally broke-through with two to tie. After senior Samijo Scheer doubled to lead-off, sophomore Nicole Maher singled to put runners on first and third with nobody out. Up-stepped sophomore Jasmine Picini who ripped a double to score both and tie the game at two. Berardi quickly settled down though, striking out the next three to end the inning and strand the winning run at second.
The Ducks quickly fought back in the eight, and with freshman
Gina Schnecker on second, Spitz crushed an RBI double to give Stevens a 3-2 lead. In the bottom of the inning, Alfred put runners on second and third with two outs, but Berardi struck-out Maher to end the game.
Berardi struck-out 15 over eight innings to earn her eighth win of the season. Spitz led the team offensively with two hits, an RBI and a run scored.
Alfred 5 Stevens 1
In the second game, the contest was scoreless until the bottom of the third, when AU sophomore second baseman
Dana Torchia hit an RBI single, freshman third baseman
Liz Thompson scored on a fielder's choice, and sophomore catcher
Jasmine Picini belted a two-run single.
That was all the support freshman pitcher Sophia Chiavatti (Santa Ana, CA/Foothills) would need, as she allowed an unearned run on three hits over five innings, striking out three and walking four. Sophomore
Katelyn Jakobsen came on with a runner on and no outs in the sixth and held the Ducks scoreless over the final two frames, allowing two hits and striking out three.
Torchia was 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Sophomore outfielder
Samantha Jauregui went 2-for-4 and scored a run and senior outfielder
Samijo Scheer hit a double, scored a run and drove in two.
Olivieri achieved his 200
th career collegiate coaching victory (all at AU), in this, his ninth season at the Saxons' helm. After Sunday's doubleheader, Olivieri, the schools' all-time leader in coaching wins, has a career record of 200-116.
ITHACA v NAZARETH
The Ithaca College softball team began its conference season with a doubleheader sweep of Nazareth on Sunday afternoon at Kostrinsky Field. Ithaca won both games by 8-0 scores, and each game was shortened due to the scoring-margin rule. Ithaca won the first game in six innings and the second game in five innings. In the afternoon sweep, Ithaca totaled 24 hits and allowed only four hits. Ithaca played error-free defense in both contests.
Ithaca 8, Nazareth 0
In the opening game of the doubleheader,
Sam Bender pitched the complete-game shutout victory and improved her record to 6-2 on the year. She allowed just two hits, walked three batters, and had five strikeouts.
Ithaca gave Bender all of the support she would need in a two-run second inning.
Francesca Busa's line-drive sacrifice fly to center field scored
Casey Gavin, and a second run scored on an infield error by Nazareth. In the sixth, Ithaca scored six times on six hits, including three doubles.
Monica Capolongo doubled to start the inning, and scored when Gavin followed with a double.
Rachel Dell'Orto singled later in the inning to bring in Gavin. Busa and
Julianne Vincent continued the rally with singles, and a bases-loaded double by
Jessie Fleck cleared the bases and gave Ithaca a 7-0 lead.
Sydney Folk grounded out to bring in Fleck with Ithaca's eighth run.
Ithaca had 11 hits in the game, two-each by Fleck, Gavin and Busa. Fleck led Ithaca with three RBIs. Five of the 11 Ithaca hits were doubles.
Ithaca 8, Nazareth 0
Ithaca did most of its damage in a six-run fourth inning that included five hits. With one out,
Francesca Busa delivered a sacrifice fly to bring in
Casey Gavin. Julilanne Vincent followed with an RBI single to bring home
Erin McQuillan. The two-out rally continued with RBI hits by
Sydney Folk,
Rachel Dell'Orto and
Monica Capolongo. Capolongo's double to right field scored Dell'Orto and Folk and gave Ithaca a 7-0 lead.
Ithaca's opening run came in the third when Dell'Orto singled to bring in
Jessie Fleck. The game-ending run came in the top of the fifth on a
Julianne Vincent triple that brought in Busa.
Laura Quicker pitched the first four innings and picked up the victory to improve her record to 3-2 on the year. She allowed two hits, walked one, and struck out three Nazareth hitters.
Allison Macaripitched the final inning with one strikeout.
Vincent, Folk, Dell'Orto, Capolongo and McQuillan all had two hits each for Ithaca. Ithaca stole four bases in the game.
STEVENS v HOUGHTON
The Stevens Institute of Technology softball team outscored Houghton College 19-3 on Sunday in a doubleheader sweep with 7-2 and 12-1 wins.
Stevens 7, Houghton 2
After both teams traded zeroes through the first two innings, Stevens broke through with three in the third. Senior
Danielle DeFeo and sophomore
Gavriella Risman-Jones hit back-to-back singles to lead off, and scored off freshman
Emily Sellitti's triple. Junior
Jamie DeGennaro followed with a single to score Sellitti, giving Stevens a 3-0 lead.
Junior pitcher
Brianna Sandone worked around a lead-off single in the bottom of the third, allowing the Ducks to add to their lead in the fourth with a two-out double from DeGennaro to score Sellitti.
Houghton came-back with one run in the fourth when sophomore Ashley Schenk singled home junior Morgan York, but Stevens answered with three in the sixth. Risman-Jones singled to lead-off the inning, and later scored off Sellitti's sacrifice fly. Then after DeGennaro singled, sophomore
Sydney Spitz ripped an RBI triple, then scored off an error at short.
Sandone pitched a scoreless sixth and gave up one in the seventh, but the runs were plenty as the junior hurler stranded six runners en-route to her eighth win of the year.
Sellitti led the team offensively with three RBIs off two hits, while DeGennaro and Spitz also contributed three hits each. Risman-Jones tied Sellitti with a game-high two runs scored.
Stevens 12, Houghton 1
The Ducks started their bats early with DeFeo and Sellitti singling to start the game. After DeGennaro moved both runners up with a groundout, freshman
Jessica Rees hit a sacrifice fly to score DeFeo. Spitz followed suit with a single before junior
Noelle Mulligan drove-in two with a double to give Stevens an early 3-0 lead.
Houghton came back with one run in their half of the inning when junior Sarah Beirne grounded-out to score freshman Bailey Shattell, but it would be all the Highlanders would be able to muster off junior
Meagan Lorenz.
Lorenz retired the side in order in the second before freshman
Kelly Klewicki singled home two in the third to extend the lead to five. Lorenz came right back with a one-two-three inning in the third, allowing Stevens to break the game open in the fourth.
With the bases loaded and no-outs, DeGennaro smacked a double to score all three runners, then moved to third and later scored off a wild-pitch.
Carrying a 9-1 lead into the fifth, the Ducks put the game away with three more runs. Sellitti started the scoring with an RBI double to score freshman
Gina Schnecker, and DeGennaro followed with an RBI single to score Sellitti and DeFeo.
Lorenz worked around a leadoff walk in the fifth with three straight ground-outs to earn the first win of her career in a five-inning, complete game one-hitter. DeGennaro's five RBIs were a season-high for the catcher, while the two RBIs for Mulligan were also a season-high.