TROY, N.Y. – Clutch hitting by the Skidmore College softball team led to a doubleheader sweep of Sage Thursday evening at Robison Field. The Thoroughbreds scored late to take game one by a 6-1 score and completed the sweep with a 9-6 victory in game two.
Skidmore improves to 12-16 with the sweep, while Sage falls to 12-14.
Skidmore tallied 11 hits in game one.
Emily Popp went 2-for-3 with three RBI.
Mary Farrington added two RBI in a 1-for-4 effort.
Lizette Roman-Johnston went 2-for-3 and added an RBI, while
Lauren Fortunato and
Heather Mak tallying two hits each.
Amanda Carilli won her third straight decision to improve to 8-7 on the season. The junior allowed one run on seven hits, striking out one batter.
Destiny Wierzibicki went 1-for-3 with a home run to lead the Gators. Allison Ford allowed five earned runs on 11 hits, striking out a batter in the decision.
Skidmore struck first in the top of the second, as Roman-Johnston scored
Jill Strileckis on a sacrifice fly to center field. In the fifth,
Karly Fishkin hit a one-out infield single, advancing to second on a throwing error by the Sage shortstop. Two batters later, Popp scored Fishkin on a single to center field to take a 2-0 lead.
Sage got its first run in the bottom of the sixth, when Wierzbicki hit a two-out home run to left field to cut the deficit in half. Skidmore responded with a game-clinching, four-run seventh. Popp got it started with a one-out, two-RBI single, then Farrington added a two-RBI single of her own two batters later.
Roman Johnston and
Kristina Foley each drove in three runs to lead the Thoroughbreds in game two. Farrington and Popp also drove in runs for the second straight game. Roman-Johnston tallied three hits, while Popp, Foley, and Farrington each tallied two. Carilli picked up the win (9-7) in relief, allowing just one run over five innings, striking out two. Popp, the game two starter, struck out a pair of batters in two innings of work.
Jessica Adams and Kiersten Duncan hit 2-run homers to lead Sage. Amy Hart was credited with the loss, allowing six runs in seven innings, striking out nine batters.
Popp helped her own cause with an RBI double to left field to start the scoring in the top of the first. The next batter, Foley, gave Skidmore a 2-0 lead on an RBI single. Sage answered back with the long ball at the bottom of the inning. Adams hit a two-run homer to left center field to tie the game.
Skidmore responded with four more runs in the top of the second.
Maddie Nelson scored on a throwing error by the Sage shortstop on a Popp single with one out to take the lead. Foley then got her second hit of the day on a single to right field, scoring two. Farrington then capped the rally with an RBI single to take the 6-2 lead. Sage scored a run in the bottom of the frame on an Alexa Silk RBI with one out. Silk came back with another RBI for Sage in the bottom of the second, then Duncan reduced the deficit to 6-5 with a two-run homer in the bottom of the third.
Skidmore added onto its lead in the top of the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Roman-Johnston. After Sage hit its third homer of the game to once again reduce the deficit to one, Roman-Johnston put the game away for good for the Thoroughbreds with a clutch two-out single to left field in the top of the seventh, scoring two runs. Carilli retired the side in order in the bottom of the frame to clinch the victory.
The Thoroughbreds return to league play, taking on RPI in Troy on Saturday. First pitch for game one of the doubleheader will begin at 1 p.m.
