Cazenovia, NY – The Sage Colleges' softball team travelled to Cazenovia College on Tuesday afternoon and came away with a pair of wins, 8-0 and 20-3. With the wins, Sage improves to 11-13 overall, while Cazenovia drops to 0-14.
Freshman pitcher Katie Kovage (Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls Central) recorded the pair of wins in the circle for the Gators and is now 5-1 on the season and is this week's Skyline Conference Co-Rookie of the Week. In the first game, she picked up her third shutout victory as she allowed just three hits with two walks and five strikeouts. She added to her success as the Gators' pitcher of record by going 1-2 at the plate with a pair of RBI's and a double.
Offensively, the Gators were paced by the outstanding play of sophomore second baseman Kristen Beikirch (Brockport, NY/Brockport) as she was 2-4 with a pair of runs scored, a double, a triple and a stolen base.
In the nightcap, Beikirch collected her 100th career hit and became the 10th player in Sage softball history to hit the mark. She now has 102 career hits in just 70 games played in a Gator uniform. She was 3-4 with four runs scored, three RBI's, a double and a home run. The reigning Skyline Conference Co-Player of the Week, she boasts a team-best eight doubles, 29 runs scored, 40 hits and a .488 batting average. She is already No. 10 on the career double list with 13 and boasts a .453 career batting average.
Junior short stop Hillary Faas (East Greenbush, NY/Columbia) was 4-5 with three runs scored and four RBIs, while connecting on her team-leading fourth home run of the season, a two-run shot in the fourth inning. Faas, who last week recorded her 100th career hit, now boasts 113 career hits and stands in the No. 4 spot, while also ranking No. 3 in career home runs with 12, just three shy of tying the mark set in 2009 by Maria Pasquarelli (15).
Rookie Jennifer Onwe (Tarrytown, NY/Sleepy Hollow) even posted a career day as she was 3-3 with two runs scored and a pair runs driven in, while hitting her first career home run to pace the Gators to the key win.
Kovage was repeat victor in the second game after yielding seven hits with three earned runs and a pair of strikeouts and is now 5-1 on the season with a 1.87 ERA in 48.2 innings of work.
Sage will be back in action on April 13 hosting Purchase College in a 1 p.m. Skyline Conference doubleheader with the Panthers at Robison Field (Troy, NY).
