Troy, NY--- The Sage Colleges' softball team hosted Union College on Thursday afternoon in a non-conference doubleheader at Robison Field. The Dutchwomen took the pair beating Sage 10-1 in the first game and 12-3 in the nightcap to extend its win streak to five games. Union improves to 11-7, while Sage drops to 17-8.
Game # 1 Union 10-1 Sage (6 innings)
Union's junior Erika Hillenbrand (East Bern Knox, NY/Duanesburg) had a two run home run in the top of the first to start the Dutchwomen's run and by the end of the first inning, Union held a 3-0 lead rookie Allyson Staats (Downers Grove, IL/Benet Academy) had an RBI single.
The Gators pulled within two runs with an RBI single in the bottom of the second inning as rookie Samantha Woitkoski (Troy, NY/Lansingburgh) connected on a one-out single and was driven in by junior Rachel Smith (Valatie, NY/Ichabod Crane) who had an RBI single to put the Gators on the board.
Staats broke open the game with a three RBI home run in the top of the third and the Dutchwomen held on as Sage left eight base runners stranded in the contest.
Sage's Smith finished with a 2-3 effort at the plate and an RBI, while Woitkoski was 2-3 with a run scored. Union's Staats paced the team with her five RBIs and was 2-4 with a run scored, a double and a homer.
For the Gators, junior pitcher Kelsey Newberg (New Britain, CT/New Britain) took the loss after three innings of work with six earned runs off eight hits. She drops to 9-5. She was joined in the circle by freshman Kindra Monahan (Fort Ann, NY/Fort Ann Central), who worked another three innings with two earned runs off six hits and three strikeouts.
Union's sophomore pitcher Amanda Blake (Upper Saddle River, NJ/Northern Highlands) earned the complete game win to improve to 2-2 after she scatter six hits and yielded no earned runs with four strikeouts.
Game # 2 Union 12-3 (5 Innings)
Union's junior Samantha Chevalier (East Greenbush, NY/Columbia) connected on her team-leading fourth home run of the season to pace a hit attack that included 14 by the Dutchwomen. Blake was 3-4 with three RBIs, a pair of runs scored for Union. Staats connected on a second home run of the day with her three run shot in the fourth inning to break open the game giving Union a 10-3 lead after Sage had tied the action at 3-3 in the bottom of the third inning.
Newberg drove in a pair of runs for Sage in the bottom of the third and finished with a 1-2 effort at the plate and the Gators were held to four hits.
Smith took the loss for Sage after four innings of work with just two earned runs off 13 hits and drops to 8-3. Monahan also worked in the nightcap, tossing one inning for Sage with a pair of unearned runs.
Union's Staats picked up the win after an impressive performance on both sides of the plate. She yielded just four hits and no earned runs with six strikeouts to improve to 3-2.
The Gators return to action on Monday, April 9 travelling to MCLA for a 3:30 p.m. non-conference pair of games, while Union College is back in action on April 7 at Skidmore College for a 1 p.m. Liberty League pair of contests.
