Gators fall twice at Skidmore in softball action
Saratoga Springs, NY----Skidmore College tallied a sweep of the Gators in a non-conference softball action on Wednesday. The Thoroughbreds took the first game 3-0 and rallied to hand the Gators a 7-5 setback in the nightcap. Skidmore is 10-8, while Sage drops 0-14. Skidmore’s sophomore pitcher Sam Crosse (Assonet, MA) collected two wins and fanned 17 batters on the afternoon.
Skidmore College put up three runs in their first at bats and held on for a 3-0 win in the first game on Wednesday. Sophomore pitcher Sam Crosse (Assonet, MA) picked up the complete game shutout win as she fanned 12 and scattered four hits. Crosse improved to 7-5 with her performance.
Sage’s freshman Gabriella Skillen (Milford, NY) was given the loss pitching six innings, allowing four hits, three earned runs and struck out three as she dropped to 0-5 on the year.
Freshman Cora Crofts (Gilford, NH) was 1-3 at the plate with a pair of RBIs with her double in the bottom of the first inning. Classmate, Julie Schwartz (Bryn Mawr, PA) was also 1-3 with an RBI double in the same inning as the Thoroughbreds scored the only runs of the game in the bottom of the first inning.
Sage’s senior short stop Kellie Jones (Troy, NY/Troy) added a 2-3 effort at the plate with a pair of doubles. Jones continues to add to her career record for the Gators as she now has 29 doubles, including a team-leading five this season.
In the nightcap, Sage’s junior Allison Bishop (Troy, NY/Lansingburgh) opened the game with a lead-off double and was driven in by freshman Mallory Ingalls’ (Oriskany, NY) to open the game and by innings end, the team was able to capitalize on a pair of Skidmore errors and take a 3-0 lead. Ingalls went 2-3 at the plate with an RBI in the game.
Sage would add another run in the top of the second inning as freshman Olivia Sullivan (Copenhagen, NY/Copenhagen) reached on an error and would eventually score on a wild pitch by Skidmore’s sophomore pitcher Abby Furhman (Amherst, MA).
Skidmore added a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning as senior Arielle Manstein (Elkins Park, PA) drove in a run and freshman Carol Brown (Seattle, WA) had an RBI sacrifice fly and cut the Gators’ lead to just two, 4-2.
Crosse replaced Furhman in the fourth inning after the Skidmore starter worked 3.1 innings with three earned runs off six hits.
Sage’s sophomore Meghan Welcome (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes) added an RBI single in the top of the fourth inning to give Sage a 5-2 lead.
Skidmore would tie the action in the bottom of the fourth inning with three runs off one hit and found themselves knotted at 5-5 after four full innings of play. Tara De George broke the tie in the bottom of the sixth inning with an RBI single and Lauren Dinsdale drove in another run with an RBI single through the left side spotting Skidmore to a 7-5 lead.
Sage’s sophomore pitcher Kristen Knights (Chatham, NY/Chatham) was the start in the night cap and took the loss, falling to 0-6. Knights has now played in 30 games as a Gator pitcher, which ranks seventh all-time in the Sage career record book, while having racked up 54 career strikeouts which is 11th best. She worked 5.2 innings with three earned runs off 10 hits in the game. She was relieved in the bottom of the sixth inning by freshman Nichole French (Harrisville, NY/Harrisville Central).
Sage mounted a rally in the top of the seventh inning as they were led by a leadoff single by Ingalls and French was hit by a pitch, but the Thoroughbreds were able to hold on and collect the 7-5 win.
Crosse would earn the win in relief and stands at 8-5 after five strikeouts in 3.2 innings of work with no earned runs off two hits.
Sage returns to action on Thursday, April 8 travelling to Cazenovia College for a non-conference doubleheader with game one starting at 3:00 p.m. Skidmore is back in action on April 9 at SUNY Cobleskill for a 3:30 p.m. non-conference doubleheader.
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