Gators punch ticket to ECAC Tournament; Sage tapped as No. 2 seed
Danbury, CT–The Sage Colleges' softball team collected the No. 2 seed in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Metro-Upstate Tournament. The appearance in the ECAC tournament marks the fourth straight year the Gators have garnered a spot in the post-season tournament.
At 18-15 overall, Sage is the No. 2 seed in the four-team tournament and will play on Saturday, May 9 in the semifinal round against No. 3 seeded Hunter College at Weehawken Park as Stevens Institute of Technology (Hoboken, NJ) will serve as the host insitition. Sage will now play Hunter at 10 a.m in the double-elimination format for the tournament. The 2015 tournament will take place at Stevens, May 9-10.
Link to Stevens ECAC Tournament Web Page
#1 Stevens (26-9-1)
#2 Sage (18-15)
#3 Hunter (20-9)
#4 Brooklyn (19-18)
New schedule to follow with the withdrawal of Clarkson University.
Final Four (Double Elimination) - Sat., May 9 at Stevens
Game 1: No. 3 Hunter vs. No. 2 Sage - 10:00 a.m.
Game 2: No. 4 Brooklyn vs. loser of Game 1 - 12 p.m.
Game 3: No. 1 Stevens vs. Winner of Game 1 - 2 p.m.
Sun., May 10 at Stevens
Game 4: Winner of Game 2 vs. Loser of Game 3 - 10 a.m.
Game 5: Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4 - 12 p.m.
Game 6 (if necessary) - 2 p.m.
On the 2015 season, Sage is batting .322 this year with 62 doubles, 5 triples, and 23 home runs. The team is ranked No. 63 in scoring nationally and No. 59 in home runs. The Gator pitchers own a combined 3.55 ERA with 129 strikeouts.
Just last week, the Gators had a school-record six players recognized with the release of the 2015 Skyline Conference Softball Team as rookie Alexa Silk (Freehold, NY/Greenville) was named to the First Team at second base. Silk has a team-best .413 batting average with six home runs this year, which ranks No. 2 all-time in single-season performances at Sage. She has 43 hits with 11 doubles and 21 RBI's as well in 31 games played.
Named to the Second Team from Sage were senior catcher Kristen Beikirch (Brockport, NY/Brockport), junior Morgan Dunn (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes) at first base, sophomore short stop Jessica Adams (Nassau, NY/Columbia), rookie outfielder Alana Vandenburg (Wynantskill, NY/Columbia), and junior pitcher Katie Kovage (Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls Central).
Beikirch has a .407 batting average this season with eight doubles, two triples, and three home runs, while combining for a .602 slugging percentage this spring. She is also a perfect 11-11 on stolen bases with 32 starts this year. On her career, Beikirch owns several career marks as well. Among them, she is the program's career stolen base leader with 64, while also leading the Gators with her 164 runs scored. She also became the all-time career hit leader and now has 219 hits. She has played in a program-best 156 games with 156 starts. She ranks first at Sage in most at-bats (526) as well as total bases (325), while standing No. 2 in doubles (37), No. 4 in triples (9), No. 2 in home runs (17), and No. 3 in RBI's (85). She owns a .416 career batting average as well in her time as a Gator with a .618 career slugging percentage. She was honored in the fall of 2014 as the 2013-2014 ECAC Division III Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, becoming the first Sage softball player honored with the award. A candidate for the 2015 CoSIDA Academic All-America team this season, she is looking to become a three-time Academic All-American.
Dunn sports a .371 batting average in 32 starts at first base for the Gators, while leading the team with 33 RBI's. She has 16 extra-base hits with 10 doubles and five home runs. She has 36 hits with 22 runs scored in her first campaign at Sage.
Adams, who started all 33 games for the Gators at short, connected for a .303 average with 30 hits. She added two home runs with eight doubles and drove in 20 runs thus far.
Vandenburg added a .364 average while patrolling the Gator outfield this season. A 33-game starter, she had 36 hits with a team-best 13 doubles, while driving in 24 runs.
Kovage, who pitched a perfect game in April as Sage topped the College of Mt. St. Vincent, 6-0, leads the Gators with her 8-7 record in the circle. She now has a 3.13 ERA this season with 34 strikeouts and has worked in 91.2 innings with five complete games. Kovage holds the program's record for most career victories (29), while standing No. 2 in career strikeouts with 169. She has a 2.99 career ERA and has 63 complete games to her credit (No. 4). Kovage also bats for the Gators and has a .223 average with 21 hits, including four doubles. She is No. 8 all-time with 18 career doubles, while adding 86 career hits (No. 16).
Sophomore Katy Rimawi (Ballston Spa, NY/Ballston Spa) has started 31 of 32 games on the year and has batted .322 with 4 home runs and 5 double. She has 28 hits with a great glove for the Gators at third base.
Senior outfielder Samantha Woitkoski (Troy, NY/Lansingburgh) has a .368 batting average on the season in 24 games played, while senior outfielder Meghan Roullier (Wynantskill, NY/Columbia) has played in 30 games with 28 starts.
Junior Courtney Laughlin (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes) has started 19 of 26 games played with a pair of extra-base hits. She has a .254 average with 13 runs scored off 15 hits with 14 RBI's.
Additional support for the Gators has come from sophomore Frankie Pearson (Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls Central), junior Jennifer Onwe (Tarrytown, NY/Sleepy Hollow) and rookie Courtney Haff (Burnt Hills, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake). Pearson and Onwe have seem time in the outfield this season, while Haff has seen time behind the plate.
In the circle for the Gators, Sage has benefit from the strong play of three performers including Kovage and rookie Racheal Lashway (Queensbury, NY/Glens Falls), and sophomore Lindsay Brace (Moriah, NY/Moriah Central). Brace owns an 8-7 record this season, having made 22 appearances to lead the lineup. She has fanned 58 batters and has a 4.22 ERA with five complete games and one save. Lashway has a 2.97 ERA in 16 outings with a 2-1 record and 37 K's. She has worked in 30.2 innings for the Gators this season.
