TROY, NY – Junior Alexa Silk (Freehold, NY/Greenville) went 3-for-5 with two runs and one RBI, but Sage dropped a pair of games to SUNY-New Paltz 1-0 and 3-6 Wednesday afternoon.
Silk accounted for three of Sage's (17-17) four runs while Jessica Adams (Nassau, NY/Columbia) had a double and an RBI on a sacrifice fly.
Meanwhile, New Paltz (17-17) was led at the plate by Nicole DeCosta's second game grand slam. Megan Carbia was 2-for-3 with two runs while Julia Perhacs also scored two runs with one hit and four walks. Shannon Fee and Julian DiSoigna combined for two RBI's while Lauren Cappello and Cristina DePaola each had one run.
The Hawk's Lauren Capello (14-10) picked up both wins for with seven strikeouts while only giving up four hits. Sage's Amy Hart (St. Johnsville, NY/Little Falls) (9-10) picked up the losses with nine strikeouts while holding New Paltz to a .191 batting average. After her effort today, Hart is a mere four strikeouts away from breaking the single-season strikeout record at Sage.
In game one, both teams combined for four runners left on base until New Paltz broke through the Gator defense when Fee singled down the left field line to put the Hawks up 1-0 in the top of the fourth.
In the top of the sixth, New Paltz had a runner on third with no outs, but Danielle Bruno grounded into a 1-3-2 double play at first and home to clear the bases. Hart forced the next batter to groundout to the shortstop to keep it a one run game going into the bottom of the sixth.
With one out on the board, Sage had pinch runner Bailey Hasemann (Granville, NY/Hartford) on second, but a lineout and popup ended the inning to keep the Gators from scoring.
New Paltz had runners on third and second with two outs in the top of the seventh, but a groundout to the shortstop ended the inning. Adams led off the bottom of the inning with a double to centerfield, but the senior was left stranded on three straight outs to end the 1-0 game.
Sage went up early in the bottom of the first inning when Alexa Silk scored on a Hawks error and Kristen Silk (Freehold,NY/Greenville) crossed the plate on an Adams sacrifice fly to right field.
After Carbia scored on a wild pitch to make the score 2-1, Alexa Silk made a backhanded play at second to prevent a single and get the second out. Hart completed the inning with a foul fly to the catcher.
In the top of the third, Perhacs scored on a DiSpigna RBI to tie the game 2-2. One inning later, the Hawks had a runner on first with one out, but a double play on a line drive to Katy Rimawi (Ballston Spa, NY/Ballston Spa) at third to end the inning.
After loading the bases in the sixth inning, DeCosta homered over the left center fence to give New Paltz its first lead of the game at 6-2.
In the top of the sixth, Alexa Silk led off the inning with a solo homer to cut the lead to 6-3, but Sage's offense couldn't get any more runs across the plate over the next two innings.
Sage returns to action Saturday as the Gators honor Adams, Rimawi and Allison Ford (Mechanicville, NY/Mechanicville) for senior day. The first pitch against Mount Saint Vincent is set to be thrown at 1 p.m.