Patchogue, NY – The Sage Colleges' softball team traveled to St. Joseph's College (LI) for the team's 2014 Skyline Conference opener. SJC took the first game 7-4, but Sage took the nightcap, 8-4. Sage stands at 5-7 overall and 1-1 in the Skyline Conference, while SJC is now 6-5 and also 1-1 in the league.
Among the highlights on the day, Sage's senior short stop Hillary Faas (East Greenbush, NY/Columbia) broke two longstanding career marks as she collected her37th career double and her 16th homerun. Faas surpassed Kelli Jones's 36 doubles and Maria Pasquarelli's 15 home runs to pen her name to the records after entering the day tied with both players for the top spot. Faas also has 99 career RBI's and is now just six shy on the record set by Melissa Roy (105).
In the first game, SJC's offense tacked on three runs in the bottom of the fourth to take the lead and then added a pair in the bottom of the fifth inning en route to the 7-4 win. Sage's sophomore pitcher Katie Kovage (Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls Central) started for the Gators and went four innings suffering the loss after allowing four earned runs of five hits with four strikeouts. She drops to 3-5 on the year.
Kovage also went deep and tagged her second homer of the spring. Sage was aided by the play of rookie Jessica Adams (Nassau, NY/Columbia), who added a doubles and two RBI's. Junior Kristen Beikirch (Brockport, NY/Brockport), senior Tricia Gaulin (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls) and rookie Frankie Pearson (Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls Central) all picked up doubles in the game, while Pearson also drove in a run for the Gators.
In the nightcap, Sage had an 8-0 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh inning before St. Joe's broke up the shutout tallying four runs in the bottom of the seventh.
Freshman pitcher Erika Daigle (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) worked six and two thirds inning and struck out eight batters in earning the win. She stands at 2-2 on the year and was replaced in the seventh by freshman Lindsay Brace (Moriah, NY/Moriah Central), who worked one third of an inning and helped to preserve the Gators' win.
Faas was 3-4 with three RBI's and now has a team-best .452 average with a 14 RBI's on the season. Adams also added a double and now has four two-baggers on the season.
The Gators' pair of Skyline Conference games slated for Sunday at Purchase College has been postponed and no new date is set for the league doubleheader. Next up for the Gators is a non-conference doubleheader on Wednesday, March 26 at RPI with first pitch set for 3 p.m.