ITHACA, N.Y. – The Bombers defeated No. 3 Stevens 14-2 to move on the Empire 8 Championship game to face No. 2 St. John Fisher later today.
Ithaca recorded 14 hits, led by sophomore
Vanessa Brown who finished with four hits, three runs scored and one RBI. Classmate
Annie Cooney was close behind, finishing 2-for-3 with two RBI.
Freshman
Shannon Grage went five innings in the circle, allowing five hits and two runs, while striking out three. Sophomore
Haley Congdon came in for the final two innings, allowing one hit, while striking out two.
Brown started the game on a high note for Ithaca, blasting a home run to left center field on the first pitch of the game. The home run was the third of the season for Brown. Senior
Jessie Fleck walked during the at bat, but Stevens retired her on a double play to end the frame.
The Bomber defense retired the Ducks in order in the bottom of the first inning, including Grage's first strikeout of the day.
Ithaca hit three balls to deep center field in the top of the second, but Stevens' centerfielder made the putouts to end the inning with no damage by the Ithaca bats.
Olivia Gemma recorded Stevens' first hit of the game in the bottom of the second inning, singling through the left side, but Ithaca forced a groundout and strikeout to leave her stranded at second.
The Bombers added four runs in the top of the third inning, taking a 5-0 lead over the Ducks. Brown kicked off the rally with a one-out single through the left side and was followed up by Fleck's bunt. With two runners on, freshman
Abby Shields singled through the left side, scoring Brown to give Ithaca a 2-0 lead.
Ithaca kept it going with sophomore
Alex Wright's bloop single to right field, scoring Fleck from third. The final two runs came after Shields scored on a wild pitch and Wright scored on an error by Stevens' catcher, giving Ithaca the 5-0 advantage.
Stevens' notched two hits in the bottom of the third inning, but Ithaca forced a fielder's choice and groundout to keep the 5-0 lead. Grage also picked up her third strikeout of the game in the frame.
The Ducks made a pitching change to start the fourth inning, bringing Marissa Cappello into the circle. Sophomore
Annie Cooney came up to the plate first and blasted a home run over the right field fence on the first pitch of the at bat. The home run was the second of the season for Cooney and put the Bombers up 6-0. Ithaca loaded up the bases with two down in the frame, but Stevens' retired Wright on a groundout to end the inning with no more damage.
The Bombers retired the Ducks in order in the bottom of the fourth, forcing three straight groundouts.
Ithaca once again rallied in the top of the fifth inning, adding another run to its total. Grage walked with one down in the frame and was pinch ran for by
Lindsey Keller. The freshman stole second and came around to score on Cooney's double to right center field. The Bombers loaded the bases after back-to-back walks, but Stevens' forced freshman
Rebecca DiSerio to foul out to the end the threat.
With a one-out single by Julia DeCandia and walk to Gina Schnecker, Stevens put two runners on with only one down in the bottom of the fifth. Farryl Groder then broke the shutout open with a hard hit double down the left field line, scoring both DeCandia and Schnecker. The Bombers got out of the frame with a deep fly out to center field.
Shields led off the top of the sixth inning with a walk and advanced to second on Wright's single to left field. Both runners were able to move up 60 feet on Anderson's groundout. Stevens forced a groundout before issuing a walk to Cooney, loading the bases. Junior
Emily Bloom came up big with her first hit of the day, a single through the left side, scoring both Shields and Wright to put Ithaca up 9-2.
Sophomore
Haley Congdon came into the circle in the bottom of the sixth inning, retiring the Ducks in order.
Ithaca started the top of the seventh inning with back-to-back doubles from Brown and Fleck. Brown came around to score on Shields' groundout and Ithaca added another after Wright singled to the pitcher, scoring Fleck to give Ithaca a 11-2 lead. Anderson followed up with a single through the left side and Cooney walked to load the bases up for Bloom. The junior walked to earn her third RBI of the day and put Ithaca up 12-2.
Sophomore
Nikkey Skuraton kept the hitting streak going, singling to left center to score both Anderson and Bloom to put the Bombers up 14-2.
The Bombers allowed a double in the bottom of the seventh inning, but got the final out two hours and 35 minutes after the first pitch.
Ithaca is set to play St. John Fisher in the Championship to start at 3 p.m.