Purchase, NY--- The Sage Colleges' softball team faced the Panthers of Purchase College on Sunday in a pair of Skyline Conference games. Sage tallied a sweep of the Panthers, 13-1 in five innings and a 20-5 win in five innings in the nightcap.
The wins extend the Gators' unbeaten streak to a school record 11 straight. Sage improves to 14-4 overall and 4-0 in the Skyline Conference, while Purchase drops to 2-8 overall and 0-4 in the league.
Sage returns to action on March 29 on the road facing Green Mountain College in a 3:30 p.m. non-conference double-header.
The Gators connected for 13 runs off 14 hits in the game, while Sage's batters added four doubles, two triples and a home run.
Rookie Karlie Williams (Schenectady, NY/Mohonasen) was 3-4 at the plate with three RBIs for the Gators in the action and connected a two-run homerun in the fifth inning. She had three RBIs to start the day. Senior Tiffany Bezio (Whitehall, NY/Whitehall) connected on a pair of triples and was 3-4 at the plate with four RBIs.
Senior Meghan Welcome (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes) was 2-4 with a pair of doubles and two RBIs, while junior Rachel Smith (Valatie, NY/Ichabod Crane) added a double with an RBI and was 2-4.
Sage's junior pitcher Kelsey Newberg (New Britain, CT/New Britain), the reining Skyline Conference and ECAC Metro Division III Pitcher of the Week, collected the win after she scattered two hits and fanned four in four innings of work with just one walk. She improves to 7-2 on the year with a team-best 56 strikeouts. On her career, she stands fourth all-time with her 124 career strikeouts as she is now 23 away from the career record set in by Kristin Hazelton (147).
Combining for the win was Sage's sophomore Jessica Saburro (Schenectady, NY/Guilderland) as she worked an inning and fanned a pair as well with a walk.
In the nightcap, the Gators led 14-0 before the Panthers even scored a run. Sage tallied a season-high 20 runs in the action as they combined for 18 hits that also featured five homeruns.
Smith exploded for two home runs, while also striking out five batters in earning her 7th win of the season. Smith was 2-3 with a pair of round trippers and three RBIs with a sacrifice fly to cap her effort at the plate. She worked three innings on work as the Gators' starter and fanned five with a pair of earned runs off four hits.
Saburro worked an inning, yielding one hit and one walk, while freshman Kindra Monahan (Fort Ann, NY/Fort Ann Central) worked the final inning with a pair of hits, two strikeouts and a pair of earned runs with a walk.
Joining her with a dominate performance at the plate was Bezio, who also homered and was 4-4 with four RBIs. Williams also went deep and drove in two runs after a 1-3 effort. Freshman Kristen Beikirch (Brockport, NY/Brockport) also connected on a homerun and was 2-4 with three RBIs. Newberg was also 3-3 with a double and a pair of walks.
