Troy, NY – The Sage Colleges' softball team hosted the Golden Eagles of St. Joseph's College on Sunday afternoon in a Skyline Conference doubleheader at Robison Field. The Gators posted a 7-3 win in the first game and capped the day with a 1-0 victory for the sweep over the Golden Eagles that had started the day in first place in the conference. Sage improves to 15-13 overall and 6-4 in the Skyline Conference, while SJC drops to 17-13 overall and 7-3 in the league. The Gators are riding a six-game win streak, while SJC has lost three straight.
In the first game, Sage's offense was paced by four doubles and connected for 11 hits on the game. SJC jumped out to a 1-0 lead with and RBI double by sophomore Julianne Tierney (Bethpage, NY/Bethpage) to drive in senior outfielder Gina Moscatelli (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa), who reached with a lead-off double to centerfield to start the inning.
Sage took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first inning as with one out, senior Kelsey Newberg (New Britain, CT/New Britain) doubles to left field and junior short stop Hillary Faas (East Greenbush, NY/Columbia) singled. Both came home on a RBI single by sophomore Karlie Williams (Schenectady, NY/Mohonasen).
Sage tacked on a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and three more in the bottom of the fifth inning to jump out to a 7-1 lead. SJC tacked on a run in the top of the sixth inning, but could not pull any closer.
In the second inning, the Gators got out of a jam when they turned a double play to end the inning. In the third inning, freshman pitcher Katie Kovage (Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls Central) fanned a pair of batters and was able to get out a bases loaded jam as well. Kovage picked up the complete game after she fanned six batters and improves to 6-1 on the year. She allowed just two earned runs off nine hits.
SJC's senior pitcher Julia DeCarmine (Holtsville, NY/Sachem East) took the loss to drop to 7-2 after allowing six earned runs off 11 hits with five strikeouts.
Offensively, Sage's sophomore second baseman Kristen Beikirch (Brockport, NY/Brockport) connected for a 2-4 effort at the plate, while Williams was 2-2 with two runs scored, three RBIs and a double. SJC's Moscatelli was 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored, while adding a double and a triple.
In the nightcap, Sage took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning when with one out, Beikirch doubled to right center. Faas singled to center and drove in Beikirch for what would be the lone run of the game.
Newberg picked up the complete game win to improve to 5-6 in the circle after allowing just one hit in the complete game. She fanned seven and now has a team-best 55 strikeouts this season, while adding to her active career strikeout mark of 242, while drawing ever closer to another Sage career pitching record. She now has 25 career wins and is just two shy of tying the all-time victory mark that stands at 27 and was set by Kim Fredenburgh.
SJC's junior pitcher Cassie Martinez (Centereach, NY/Middle Country) took the loss to fall to 7-8. She gave up 10 hits with one earned run and five strikeouts on the day.
With her efforts on Sunday, Faas moved into the No. 4 spot on the Gator career hit list as she now has 120 hits with 28 doubles, which is No. 3 on the career list.
Sage is back in action on April 17 hosting RPI in a non-conference doubleheader at Robison Field on the Sage campus at 3:30 p.m.
