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Newberg and Bishop combine on both sides of plate, but it is not enough as Gators fall to SJC
Troy, NY---- The Sage Colleges softball team hosted the Eagles of St. Joseph's College on Saturday in the Skyline Conference doubleheader at Robison Field. St. Joseph's College took both games to improve to 13-13 overall and 7-5 in the Skyline Conference, while Sage falls to 9-18 overall and 4-10 in the league.
Prior to the action Sage's softball program honored 2011 senior Allison Bishop (Troy, NY/Lansingburgh) in conjunction with Senior Day. Bishop promptly hit a solo homerun in her first at bat. The talented scholar-athlete ranks in several single-season and career records as Sage as she has played in 92 games (11th), with 272 at bats (10th), has 74 hits (12th), with 19 doubles (3rd), 7 home runs (4th) and 55 runs scored (11th).
Game # 1 St. Joseph's 8-1 Sage
St. Joseph's tallied a pair of runs in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead before Bishop hit a solo shot to deep left center field to pull the Gators within a run.
The Eagles chipped back as Sage's sophomore pitcher Kelsey Newberg (New Britain, CT/New Britain) and connected on three unearned runs off seven hits in her five innings of work. She fanned seven on the game and moved into the No. 2 spot on the Gators' all-time single-season strikeout list as she leads the 2011 squad with 68 strikeouts. She moved ahead of Kristen Hazelton's 64 strikeouts in 2006 and is now just seven shy of breaking the single-season mark held by Maria DeNovio (72, 2004).Newberg took the loss to fall to 4-7.
For Sage, junior Megan Welcome (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes) had a pair of hits, while St. Joseph's senior Erika Stark (Middle Island, NY/Longwood) was 2-4 with two RBIs and sophomore pitcher Julia De Carmine (Holtsville, NY/Sachem East) added a 2-4 effort with an RBI and a pair of runs scored. On the rubber, she picked up the complete game victory to improve to 7-6. She yielded just one earned run off five hits with six strikeouts.
Game # 2 St. Joseph's 7-6 Sage
In the nightcap, St. Joseph's once again took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but Sage overtook the Eagles with a three-run second inning as Newberg had a bunt single RBI and rookie Katie Karkoski (Ticonderoga, NY/Ticonderoga) had a two RBI single.
The Eagles overtook Sage in the top of the fourth with three runs as junior Courtney Frisina (Smithtown, NY/St. Anthony's) connected on her first homerun of the season, a three-run blast.
The Gators did not flinch as they trailed 5-3 heading into the bottom of the fifth and a pair of clutch hits and untimely Eagle errors gave Sage a 6-5 lead by inning's end. Rookie catcher Tricia Gaulin (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls) and junior Rachel Smith (Valatie, NY/Ichabod Crane) each had a big inning and drove in Sage runs to help the cause.
In the top of the sixth inning, SJC's De Carmine connected on a two-run homerun give the Eagles a 7-6 lead and providing the game-winning shot for her team. She finished the contest with a 3-4 effort with two runs scored and a pair of RBIs, while Frisina was 1-2 with three RBIs and two runs scored.
Sage's Karkoski was 1-4 with two RBIs, while Smith, Gaulin, and Newberg all drove in a run for the Gators.
Newberg made the start and suffered the loss after six innings of work, while Smith worked the seventh inning and fanned one.
SJC's freshman Cassie Martinez (Centereach, NY/Middle Country) earned the complete game win with six strikeouts. She is 6-6 after scattering 10 hits.
