Troy, NY--- The Sage Colleges' softball team hosted Mt. St. Mary College in a Skyline Conference doubleheader at Robison Field on Thursday afternoon. The two teams split as the Knights took game one, 6-4 and the Gators took the nightcap, 7-0. The win puts Sage at 18-9 overall and 6-2 in the Skyline Conference, while MSMC is now 10-14 overall and 5-3 in the league.
Sage's 18 wins in 2012 tie the program's record for most wins in a season set previously in 1991 and 2002.
Game # 1 MSMC 6-4 Sage
The Knights jumped out to a 4-0 lead with four runs in the top of the second inning as they benefit from the play of rookie Danielle Soto (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place) as she added an RBI double.
MSMC tacked on single runs in the top of the fourth and seventh innings and finished with five hits, while Sage made six costly errors.
Sage did not go away and continued to chip away at the MSMC lead and pulled within two runs and had the tying run at the plate but could not connect as fell, 6-4.
MSMC's junior pitcher Caitlin Maynes (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place) collected the complete game win to improve to 6-5 as she yielded just two earned runs, while fanning two batters.
Sage's sophomore short stop Hillary Faas (East Greenbush, NY/Columbia) connected in three doubles and drove in a run after a 3-3 performance at the plate. Senior outfielder Tiffany Bezio (Whitehall, NY/Whitehall) was 1-3 with a pair of RBIs for the Gators.
Junior pitcher Kelsey Newberg (New Britain, CT/New Britain) took the loss after walking 10 and striking out four in the seven innings of work. She drops to 9-6, while adding to her active single-season record of 78 strikeouts.
Game # 2 Sage 7-0 MSMC
Junior pitcher Rachel Smith (Valatie, NY/Ichabod Crane) provided sparks for the Gators on both sides of the ball as she put the Gators on the scoreboard with her sixth home run of the season in the first at bat of the game. She ties Sage's single-season record for home runs held by both Maria Pasquarelli (2008) and Kellie Jones (2009). Smith went on to toss a one-hit shutout en route to her ninth win of the season and had a perfect game going until the fourth inning when she walked the 12th batter she faced.
Smith finished with three strikeouts and two walks, while adding a 2-3 effort at the plate with an RBI.
Rookie catcher Kristen Beikirch (Brockport, NY/Brockport) drove in two runs and elevated her team-leading hit count to 40, while rookie Karlie Williams (Schenectady, NY/Mononasen) also drove in a pair of runs for Sage.
MSMC's sophomore Chelsea Hepburn (New York, NY/Montclair) connected on the Knights' lone hit in the night cap.
Taking the loss for the Knights was sophomore Amanda Barrese (Staten Island, NY/St. Joseph' by the Sea). She yielded five earned runs off 11 hits with five walks and drops to 4-7.
The Gators return to action on Saturday, April 14 travelling to St. Joseph's (LI) for a 1 p.m. Skyline Conference pair, while MSMC is on the road that same day in a noon conference doubleheader at NYU-Poly.
