Purchase, NY – The Sage Colleges' softball team continued action in the 2013 Skyline Conference Softball Championship on Saturday on the campus of Purchase College. Sage opened action with a 5-2 win over NYU-Poly, but fell in the final game on the day to Farmingdale State, 9-3. The Gators drop from the tournament, while Farmingdale State and St. Joseph's (LI) will meet on Sunday for the 2013 Skyline Conference Championship and the league' automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Sage is now 20-18 on the season after making two straight conference tournament appearances.
Game # 4 No. 3 Sage def. No. 1 NYU-Poly, 5-2
Sage opened the day beating top seeded NYU-Poly 5-2 in the elimination game and moved on in the tournament. The Jays went 0-2 in the tournament and were the first team eliminated as Sage beat the Gators for the first time in program history on Saturday.
Against NYU-Poly in the Gators' first game of the day, Sage led 1-0 in the bottom of the second inning before NYU-Poly pulled ahead 2-1 with a two run home run by Shelby Bruns in the top of the fifth inning. Sage answered right back as graduate student Rachel Smith (Valatie, NY/Ichabod Crane) tagged her second home run of the season to tie the score at 2-2 and by inning's end had a 3-2 lead as sophomore Kristen Beikirch (Brockport, NY/Brockport) had an RBI double.
In the sixth inning Smith drove in another run as she connected on another extra-base hit, a double and rookie pitcher Katie Kovage (Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls Central) had an RBI single to drive in Smith.
Smith finished the game going 2-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored and Kovage was 2-2 and drove in two runs, while also collecting the complete game win in the circle.
Kovage worked seven innings with two earned runs off five hits with two strikeouts and improves to 8-3 on the season and has made 20 appearances for the Gators to lead the 2013 squad.
Game #5 No. 2 Farmingdale State vs. No. 3 Sage, FSC def. Sage, 9-3
Sage's senior pitcher Kelsey Newberg (New Britain, CT/New Britain) started the game, but was relieved by Kovage in the fifth inning. Newberg worked 4.1 innings with one earned run off eight hits with three strikeouts and dropped to 8-9. Kovage worked two thirds of an inning with an earned run off two hits, before she was relieved by Smith, who closed the action out with two innings with three earned runs off three hits.
Offensively, the Gators got a home run from Beikirch, her team-leading sixth of the year and the 12th of her career. She put Sage on the scoreboard with her blast in the fifth inning and Smith connected on her second home run on the day to pull Sage within three runs, down 6-3 in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Smith now has 13 career home runs and moves into a tie for the No. 2 spot on the career home run list.
On the season, she leads the team with outstanding performance at the plate as she has a .451 batting average, 60 hits, 10 doubles, 3 triples, 6 home runs and 133 at bats.
Sage stands at 20-18 on the year after making the Skyline Conference Tournament for the second straight year and surpasses the 20-win plateau for the second time in as many years, all under second-year head coach Jamie Brown. The Gators must now await their fate with the announcement of the 2013 ECAC Division III Tournament Field, which will be announced on Monday, May 6.
2013 Skyline Softball Championship
Friday, Apr. 26
Game 1 - No. 4 St. Joseph's-L.I. at No. 1 NYU-Poly - (SJC won 5-3)
Game 2 - No. 2 Farmingdale State vs. No. 3 Sage - (FSC won 8-0)
Saturday, Apr. 27
Game 3 – St. Joseph's vs. Farmingdale State - SJC def. FSC, 7-6
Game 4 – NYU-Poly vs. Sage - Sage def. NYU-Poly, 5-2
Game 5 – Farmingdale State vs. Sage – FSC def. Sage, 8-3
Sunday, Apr. 28
Game 6 – St. Joe's (LI) vs. Farmingdale State - 11:00 a.m.
Game 7 - If necessary - 2:00 p.m.
(all games at Purchase College)
