Poultney, VT - The Sage Colleges Gators came into today's matchup against Green Mountain riding an 11 game winning streak and with a balanced offensive attack that included nine extra base hits, the Eagles were no match for the visitors as the team lost 17-1 in non-conference action Thursday afternoon. The victory pushes the Gators win streak to a school-record 12 straight games and improves their record to 15-4 overall. The loss drops the Eagles to 1-8 on the season.
The Gators broke open the scoring with four runs in the opening frame taking advantage of four singles and a double in the inning. The visitors would add one more in the second before exploding for eight in the third to effectively put the game out of reach.
The Eagles pushed a run across in the third inning to get on the scoreboard and an inning later had the bases loaded with two outs, but could not capitalize in the inning.
The Gators' offense was highlighted by senior outfielder Tiffany Bezio (Whitehall, NY) who went 3-for-4 at the plate while scoring three runs and driving in two. Two of her hits were triples which did most of the damage.
Junior starting pitcher Kelsey Newberg (New Britain, CT) also swung the bat well for the Gators as she went a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with a double, two runs scored and an RBI. Senior third baseman Meg Welcome (Cohoes, NY) added 3 hits of her own which included a double. She score twice and also drove in a run.
The Eagles only managed four hits on the day, but two of those came off the bat of junior third baseman Emma Lord (Greenville, NY) who went 2-for-3 and added a steal. Junior centerfielder Kristin Belessis (Augusta, NJ) recorded a hit and made a fantastic diving catch in the outfield, saving a run. Senior backstop Emily Heale (East Bethany, NY) worked a walk and recorded the only other GMC hit. Junior Casey McGill drove in the lone Eagle run with an RBI groundout.
Up next for both teams will be games set for Saturday, March 31st. The Eagles will open up North Atlantic Conference (NAC) play at home against Castleton State College with the doubleheader match-up slated for 1:00 p.m. The Gators will prepare to host Skyline Conference opponent Mount St. Mary College (NY) in a 12:00 p.m. match-up.
