Sage falls to Cazenovia in softball action
Cazenovia, NY----Cazenovia College softball team is off to their best start since the 2004 season after winning their fifth and sixth games in a row with a sweep of Sage Colleges in a non-conference doubleheader Thursday afternoon at Veteran’s Field.
The Wildcats improved to 9-3 overall, their best start to a season since opening the 2004 slate 12-3, and have won nine of their last ten contests. Sage fell to 0-16 overall with the losses.
Jessica Kneaskern (Union Springs, N.Y.) was 4-for-7 on the day with three RBI, two doubles and a homerun to lead the Wildcats from the plate. Jackie Bovay (Camillus, N.Y.) recorded two hits, including a homerun, and drove in two runs. Christine Nichols (Syracuse, N.Y.) had two hits, two runs and an RBI to go along with some superb play in the field. Alyssa Boswell (Cazenovia, N.Y.) threw all 14 innings for the Wildcats and posted a 1.93 ERA with four strikeouts.
In game one, Kneaskern knocked in a run on a double to left center in the first inning to give Cazenovia an early 1-0 advantage. Neither team scored again until an error at second in the bottom of the fourth brought home the final two runs of the game for the Wildcats.
Sage’s sophomore Meghan Welcome (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes) connected on a double for the Gators as they combined for five hits in the first game.
Sage’s freshman Gabriella Skillen (Milford, NY) was given the loss pitching six innings, allowing six hits with one earned run and a pair of strikeouts. She falls to 0-6 on the year.
Sage drew first blood in game two on an RBI single in the first to take a quick 1-0 lead. The Wildcats responded with back-to-back homers by Bovay and Kneaskern in the bottom of the first to go up, 3-1. Bovay hit a two-run shot in the No. 3 spot in the order and Kneaskern followed that up with a solo blast in the next at-bat. An error in the second brought in another run for Cazenovia to make it 4-1.
In the top of the sixth, Sage tacked on two runs on a single to left to pull within one, 4-3. But Cazenovia came right back and added five runs on a pair of RBI singles, two walks with the bases loaded and a passed ball to put the game away.
Sage’s junior Allison Bishop (Troy, NY/Lansingburgh) and Welcome each doubled for the Gators at they out-hit Cazenovia, but fell 9-3 in the final tally. Freshman Nichole French (Harrisville, NY/Harrisville Central) drove in two runs for the Gators in the game, while Cazenovia capitalized on a pair of home runs in the game and tacked on five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to pull away from Sage.
French took the loss after working 5.1 innings with seven earned runs off nine hits with a pair of strikeouts and three walks.
Meghan Welcome and Nichole French each had three hits to lead the Gators on the day.
Sage returns to action on Saturday, April 10 in a Skyline Conference doubleheader on the road at 1 p.m.
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