Troy, NY – The Sage Colleges' softball team, which garnered the No. 1 seed and the hosting rights for the 2014 Skyline Conference Softball Tournament opened play on Friday afternoon in the four-team double-elimination formatted tournament. The Dolphins of the No. 4 seeded College of Mt. St. Vincent tallied a 3-1 to advance in the winners' bracket, while the Rams of Farmingdale State College bested No. 2 seeded Mt. St. Mary College, 4-3.
The tournaments is a double-elimination format with four teams vying for the crown.
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Friday, Apr. 25
Game 1 - No. 4 Mount Saint Vincent at No. 1 Sage, CMSV wins 3-1
Game 2 - No. 2 Mount Saint Mary vs. No. 3 Farmingdale State – FSC wins 4-3
Saturday, Apr. 26
Game 3 – CMSV vs. FSC - 10:00 a.m.
Game 4 – Sage vs. CMSV - 1:00 p.m.
Game 5 - Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 - 4:00 p.m.
Sunday, Apr. 27
Game 6 - Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5 - 11:00 a.m.
Game 7 (If necessary) - 2:00 p.m.
All games will be played at Robison Field on the campus of Sage
For the Gators, the loss puts them at 21-212 overall, while CMSV improves to 28-5.
The Dolphins struck first with a run in the top of the second inning, but Sage answered right back as freshman Jessica Adams (Nassau, NY/Columbia) connected for a single down the left field line and went to second on the throw and to third on a wild pitch. She came in on an RBI's sacrifice fly by sophomore Courtney Laughlin (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes).
In the top of the fourth the Dolphins made the most of a pair of costly errors by the Gators and managed to bring in two runs and take a 3-1 lead.
Sage had five hits, including a double by Laughlin, while junior Kristen Beikirch (Brockport, NY/Brockport) picked up her team-leading 19th stolen base of the year to add to her active career stolen base record that has grown to 52.
Sophomore Katie Kovage (Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls Central) made the start and worked 5.1 innings with one earned run off four hits with three strikeouts. Kovage drops to 11-7 on the year. Rookie Lindsay Brace (Moriah, NY/Moriah) worked 1.2 innings in relief and allowed one hit with one strikeout.
CMSV's rookie Brittany Lee (Newton, NJ/North Warren Regional) was 2-4, while sophomore Kathryn Dalton (Northampton, PA/Northampton) had an RBI for the Dolphins in the fourth to break the 1-1 tie.
Junior Kathleen Davis (Beacon, NY/Beacon) picked up the win in her four innings of work with one earned run off five hits and three strikeouts. She stands at 11-3 on the year, while freshman Mackenzie Heizer (Vacaville, CA/Vacaville) picked up the save, her second of the year after she worked three scoreless innings with no hits and five strikeouts.