Horseheads, NY –Russell Sage College's softball team opened their 2023 Empire 8 schedule on Friday with a doubleheader with the Soaring Eagles of Elmira College. Elmira took game one, 10-9 in eight innings and the Gators took the night cap, 7-5.
RSC is now 7-11 overall and 1-1 in the league, while Elmira is also 1-1 in the league and 8-10 overall.
Two of the Gators continue to make their mark on the program's career record book. Graduate performers Taylor Dicranian (Bennington, VT/Mt. Anthony Union) and Arianna Papas (Castleton, NY/Maple Hill) picked up a pair of stolen bases for RSC.
Dicranian broke the Gator appearance mark on Friday and she surpassed the 79 held by Katie Kovage. With her win in the nightcap, she now has 27 career wins, which stands third best, while her 76 career strikeouts is ranked 16th. Her 364.1 innings pitched finds her third in the career list as well. Her accomplishments are not limited to her work as a Gator pitcher. At the plate, her 42 career doubles is third, her 65 career runs scored is 17th, and her 111 games played is 21st, while her 125 career hits is ninth best.
Papas, who was just named a NFCA Regional Player to Watch for Division III, now has 122 career hits and is 10th. She is also 10th with her 31 career doubles, while her nine triples is tied for fourth and her 10 career home runs is ninth, She is ninth with 79 career runs scored, and 15th with her 64 RBI's. Her 16 stolen bases also checks in at No. 16 at RSC.
Game #1 Elmira 10-9 RSC (8 innings)
Sage jumped out to a 4-0 lead after plating four runs in the top of the fourth. They lead 6-0 before Elmira started to claw their way back in the game. The Gators led 8-6 in the seventh inning as rookie Amber Banas (Saugerties, NY/Saugerties) had an RBI single to center field to drive in sophomore Madalyn Ring (Gansevoort, NY/South Glens Falls).
In the bottom of the seventh, Elmira's Katie Distefano belted a two run shot to centerfield to tie the game at 8-8 and sending the contest to extra innings.
Junior Isabella Vano (Yorktown Heights, NY/Yorktown) grounded out to short but senior Lauren Salmonese (Poughkeepsie, NY/Poughkeepsie) scored on the play, spotting the Gators to a 9-8 lead. In the bottom half of the inning, Arian Wilcox had an RBI triple followed by an RBI single from Kaitlyn Belmont's RBI single to left field to lift Elmira to the 10-9 win.
Vano, Banas each tallied two RBIs for the Gators, while graduate performer Taylor Dicranian (Bennington, VT/Mt. Anthony Union) and Salmonese each collected a double. Graduate player Arianna Papas (Castleton, NY/Maple Hill) also picked up a pair of stolen bases for RSC.
In the circle for RSC, rookie Leah Madore (Williamsville, VT/Brattleboro Union) worked 6.2 innings allowing eight earned runs off of nine hits with four strikeouts and three walks. Dicranian came in and worked 1.0 innings, yielding two earned runs off of three hits with a strikeout. She took the loss dropping to 2-7.
Elmira's Mary Ann Sobel (5-4) got the complete game win after working 8.0 innings with a pair of walks and strikeouts with 14 hits allowed and six earned runs.
Game #2 RSC 7-5 Elmira
Rookie Emma Heartquist (Stuyvesant, NY/Ichabod Crane) led off the top of the sixth inning with a single and sophomore catcher Serina Garmendiz (Hempstead, NC/Pine Bush) singled before Salmonese singled to center to drive in a pair. Papas came up big with her two-run homerun in the top of the sixth inning to spot the Gators to a 7-4 lead.
Heartquist was 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI, while Dicranian also drove in a run and was 1-for-4. Dicranian worked a complete game and allowed four earned runs off 14 hits with a strikeout and improved to 3-7.
RSC returns to action on April 8 travelling to Keuka College for 1 p.m. doubleheader.
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