Troy, NY--- The Sage Colleges' softball team hosted the Panthers of SUNY-Old Westbury on Sunday in a pair of Skyline Conference games. The Gators took the first game 6-5, but fell in the nightcap, 12-8. Sage's win streak was snapped at 13 with the loss and puts Sage at 16-5 overall and 5-1 in the Skyline Conference. Old Westbury stands at 6-10 overall and 1-3 in the league.
Game #1 Sage 6-5 SUNY-Old Westbury
Old Westbury took a 3-0 lead in the first inning as junior Alyssa Clancy (Remsenburg, NY/Westhampton Beach) hit a three-run home run. The Gators trailed 5-0 in the fourth, but gradually chipped away at the Panthers' lead and tied the action in the bottom of the sixth inning on a two RBI single by junior pitcher Kelsey Newberg (New Britain, CT/New Britain).
In the bottom of the seventh inning with one out, freshman second baseman Kristen Beikirch (Brockport, NY/Brockport) hit a solo homerun to left center field to end the game and extend Sage's win streak to a record 13 games. Beikirch leads the Gators with four home runs this season and 34 hits.
Sophomore catcher Tricia Gaulin (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls) was 3-3 with a double and an RBI for Sage, while rookie Samantha Woitkoski (Troy, NY/Lansingburgh) was 2-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Sophomore short stop Hillary Faas (East Greenbush, NY/Columbia) also went deep for the Gators with her solo home run in the fifth inning.
OW's Clancy was 2-4 with four RBIs and a homerun. Freshman Marissa Brightman (Bay Shore, NY/Bay Shore) was 2-5 with a pair of runs scored, an RBI.
For the Gators, Newberg earned the win to improve to 9-2 after striking out seven, while yielding five earned runs. OW's Clancy took the loss to drop to 2-6 after she yielded five earned runs off 12 hits with eight strikeouts.
Game #2 Old Westbury 12-8 Sage
Old Westbury took the nightcap in a hard fought rain soaked battle that saw several lead changes and four ties before the Panthers tacked on four runs in the top of the seventh to collect the 12-8 win.
In the seventh, Brightman connected on a two RBI double to break the 8-8 tie, before senior catcher Samantha Seigler (Bellmore, NY/John F. Kennedy) capped the run with a two RBI double of her own.
The Gators could not rally in the bottom of the inning and suffered their first loss in 14 games, snapping the win streak that dated back to March 8.
Sophomore Jennifer Jean (Levitttown, NY/Division Avenue) was 2-3 with three RBIs and three runs scored with a pair of doubles, while Brightman drove in three runs in the game and had a double. Seigler was 2-5 with two RBI's and two doubles for the Panthers.
Sage's junior pitcher Rachel Smith (Valatie, NY/Ichabod Crane) worked five plus innings with six walks and six earned runs in the no decision. Newberg replaced her and worked two innings with four earned runs and pair of strikeouts. She drops to 9-3 on the year, with a personal-best 69 strikeouts. She is just four strikeouts away from surpassing the Sage single-season strikeout mark, set in 2004 by Maria DeNovio (72). Newberg is also just 11 shy of become the all-time strikeout leader as Sage as she has 137, just 10 behind the mark set by Kristin Hazelton with 147.
Smith added two doubles at the plate for Sage and was 2-5 with three runs scored, while senior Tiffany Bezio (Whitehall, NY/Whitehall) was 2-4 with a pair of doubles and RBIs for Sage.
OW's senior pitcher Deborah Ciccarelli (St. James, NY/Smithtown East) earned the complete game win to improve to 4-4 after she fanned four and allowed seven earned runs off 11 Sage hits.
