SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Skidmore College softball team set a single-season home run record, as the Thoroughbreds earned a doubleheader split with Hamilton Tuesday evening at Wagner Park. Hamilton won game one, 5-4 and Skidmore took game two, 3-2.
Skidmore's record stands at 16-16, while Hamilton is 23-7.
The Thoroughbreds hit four home runs in the doubleheader, setting a new single-season record for home runs (25). They surpass the old mark of 21, set in the 2009 season. Skidmore has hit as many home runs in 32 games this season as in the past two seasons combined.
White hit two home runs on the day.
Hannah Davis and
Kaitlyn Judd also homered. Davis also led Skidmore with three hits in the doubleheader.
GAME 1
Skidmore got off to a solid start in game one, as Davis hit the record-setting home run in the top of the third, giving the Thoroughbreds a 1-0 lead.
In the circle, Davis (8-5) got off to a solid start, no-hitting Hamilton thorough 4.1 innings. An RBI double by Jodi Weiss broke the no-no, tying the contest at one. It was the beginning of a five-run fifth for the Continentals. Skidmore got two back in the bottom of the frame on a two-out, two-RBI double by
Genesis Delgado.
White led the seventh with a home run to cut the deficit to one, but Morgan Hartranft came in relief for Hamilton, finishing the seventh for her fourth save of the season.
Skidmore scattered six hits in game one, led by Davis' 2-for-4 effort.
GAME 2
With daylight fleeting, Skidmore got to work early, with Judd's bomb to center field giving Skidmore a 1-0 lead after two innings. Hamilton tied things up in the third, as Courtney Cardea hit a solo shot off the scoreboard in left field to tie the game.
In the bottom of the frame, White took a 2-2 pitch over the left field wall, giving Skidmore a 2-1 lead. Hamilton answered in the fourth, taking advantage of a Skidmore throwing error to tie things up at two.
Skidmore took the lead for good in the fifth, with
Hannah Paolucci providing a two-out, RBI single to left field. In the seventh, with Hamilton threatening, Delgado made a fine defensive play to save the contest, catching a liner to her left, then throwing out an aggressive runner at first base for the game-ending double play.
Emily Popp (6-8) had one of her best outings of the season, allowing just one earned on two hits in seven innings. She struck out six Hamilton batters. The Thoroughbreds tallied six hits in the game two win.
NEXT UP: The Thoroughbreds will return to league action, hosting No. 14 Ithaca at Wagner Park for a doubleheader Friday at 3 p.m.
