Troy, NY--- The Sage Colleges' softball team hosted the Fighting Tigers of SUNY-Cobleskill on Thursday afternoon in a non-conference doubleheader at Robison Field. The Gators tallied a pair of wins, 9-0 and 12-1, both in five innings. With the wins, Sage has won seven straight games and is now 10-4 on the year. The losses put Cobleskill at 1-5 on the season.
The seven straight wins ranks second all-time in program history for consecutive wins for the Gators, while the 10 wins is the most for the squad since the 2004 team had a 14-win campaign. The Gators are a perfect 6-0 at home this season as well.
Sage returns to action on March 24 in the team's 2012 Skyline Conference opener when they face the College of Mt. St. Vincent in a doubleheader at Noon with the two games taking place on the Baker Athletic Complex in New York, NY. SUNY-Cobleskill returns to action on Friday, March 23 facing Green Mountain College in noon doubleheader at the All-Sports Complex in Queensbury, NY.
Sage's rookie infielder Kristen Beikirch (Brockport, NY/Brockport), the reining Skyline Conference Player of the Week finished with two home runs, five RBI's and was 4-6 in the pair of games with four runs scored. She leads the team with her .585 batting average in 14 starts with 14 runs scored and is a perfect 6-6 on stolen bases.
Game #1 Sage 9-0 Cobleskill (5 innings)
Sage's junior pitcher Kelsey Newberg (New Britain, CT/New Britain), the reining Skylne Conference and ECAC Metro Division III Pitcher of the Week, collected the win after she scattered one hit and fanned seven in four innings of work. She added a double to her performance at the plate and improves to 5-2 with a team-best 43 strikeouts. On her career, she stands fourth all-time with her 111 career strikeouts as she is now 36 away from the career record set in by Kristin Hazelton (147).
Beikirch drove in three RBIs in the action as she had a double and a two run shot to left center for her first career homerun.
Rookie Karlie Williams (Schenectady, NY/Mohonasen) was 2-3 at the plate with a pair of runs for the Gators in the action.
Cobleskill's freshman Kayla Shea (Elizaville, NY/Stissing) had the Fighting Tigers' lone hit in the first game.
Freshman pitcher Brianne Gray (Hornell, NY/Hornell) took the loss to fall to 1-2 after working four innings with four earned runs off 10 Sage hits.
Game #2 Sage 12-1 Cobleskill (5 innings)
In the nightcap, the Gators jumped out to a 1-0 lead and tacked on eight runs in the bottom of the second inning after connecting on nine hits in the inning and sending 11 batters to the plate. Sage racked up a pair of doubles and a two-run home run by Beikirch to break open the game.
Sage's junior Rachel Smith (Valatie, NY/Ichabod Crane) picked up her fifth win of the season after three innings of work with six strikeouts and just three hits allowed. She leads the team with her 2.12 ERA on the year. She was also 2-3 at the plate in the nightcap with a double and two runs scored.
Senior Meghan Welcome (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes) was 1-3 with a pair of RBIs, a double and a run scored. She leads the team with six doubles and now has 25 career doubles and stands second all-time on the Gator doubles list, which is held by Kellie Jones (36).
Cobleskill's junior catcher Tomi-Lee Springer (Berne, NY/Berne-Knox) was 2-3 with an RBI for the Fighting Tigers.
Gray took the loss after going 2.0 innings with eight earned runs off 12 hits and was replaced by sophomore Brooke Slater (Howe Cave, NY/Cobleskill-Richmondville), who also worked of pair of innings.
