Sage takes two from SVC as Newberg tosses no-hitter and Smith extends scoreless streak
Troy, NY--- The Sage Colleges' softball team hosted the Mountaineers of Southern Vermont College on Sunday afternoon in a non-conference doubleheader at Robison Field. The Gators tallied a pair of shutout wins, 8-0, 8-0. With the wins, Sage has won five straight games and is now 8-4 on the year. The losses put SVC at 1-7 on the season. Sage has also won five contests by virtue of shutouts as well.
Among the highlights of the afternoon was a no-hit shutout turned in by Sage's junior pitcher Kelsey Newberg (New Britain, CT/New Britain) as she fanned 10 Mountaineer batters. Newberg also recorded her 100th career strikeout in the action, bringing her career total to 104, which is fourth highest among the all-time performances at Sage.
Game #1 Sage 8-0 SVC (5 innings)
Sage's junior pitcher Kelsey Newberg (New Britain, CT/New Britain) worked a complete game in earning the shutout win as she fanned 10 Mountaineer batters. Newberg threw a no-hitter and collected the shutout win to improve 4-2 with a team-best 36 strikeouts.
Junior Rachel Smith (Valatie, NY/Ichabod Crane) added a 2-4 effort with two doubles and a pair of runs scored for Sage, while rookie infielder Kristen Beikirch (Brockport, NY/Brockport), the reining Skyline Conference Rookie of the Week added a 2-3 performance with a stolen base and an RBI.
Sophomore short stop Hillary Faas (East Greenbush, NY/Columbia) also had a double and was 2-2 with two runs scored as the Gators connected on 10 hits in the contest, while holding SVC hitless and scoreless.
SVC's freshman Emily Fleming (Saratoga Springs, NY/Saratoga Springs) took the loss with two earned runs off 10 hits and struck out just one as she drops to 0-3.
Game #2 Sage 8-0 SVC (6 innings)
In the nightcap, the Gators yielded just one hit as Sage's junior Rachel Smith (Valatie, NY/Ichabod Crane) picked up her third shutout win and extender her scoreless inning streak to nine innings. Smith stuck out two and improves to 4-2 and now sports a 2.31 ERA on the season. Smith added to her success by going 1-2 with a run and RBI as a batter.
Beikirch, who caught in the nightcap, was 3-3 in the night cap with 4 RBI's and another stolen base. Beikirch batted a blistering .833 on the week for Sage and now owns a .571 season average with a 5-5 performance on stolen bases.
Senior Meghan Welcome (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes) was 2-2 with a pair of runs scored with an RBI and a double. Welcome has now connected for 24 career doubles and stands second all-time on the Gator doubles list, which is held by Kellie Jones (36).
SVC's freshman pitcher Hayley McDonald (Latham, NY/Shaker) took the loss after 3.2 innings, yielding eight earned runs off 12 hits with six walks. She drops to 1-3.