TROY, NY – Junior Amy Hart (St. Johnsville, NY/Little Falls) recorded a season-high 14 strikeouts in a 3-1 win over St. Joseph's – Long Island in Friday afternoon's Skyline doubleheader. The Golden Eagles took the first game 4-2 in eight innings.
Hart (5-8) went the distance for the Gators, giving up one hit on 137 pitches. The junior passed Rachel Smith for the fourth place spot in single-season strikeouts at Sage. St. Joseph's Nicole Baron (1-1) picked up the loss after giving up one earned one over six innings of work.
Sage (13-15, 8-4 Skyline) was led at the plate by Jessica Adams (Nassau, NY/Columbia) with one RBI on a 2-2 day. Alexa Silk (Freehold, NY/Greenville) went 2-3 with one run and a double while Allison Ford (Mechanicville, NY/Mechanicville) had a run and RBI. Scoring Sage's one earned run was Kristen Silk (Freehold, NY/Greenville).
St. Joseph's Kristen Arbiter hit a double to left center in the top of the first to the Golden Eagle's long hit of the day.
The Gators broke Baron's shutout in the bottom of the third when Alexa Silk scored on a throwing error. Two batters later, Ford scored on an Adams single up the middle to put Sage up 2-0.
After Hart walked runners to first and second, Arbiter scored on a throwing error to cut Sage's lead down to 2-1 in the top of the fourth.
In the bottom of the fifth, Kristen Silk added an insurance run on a Ford RBI to put the Gators back up two runs. Sage then had runners on second and third with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, but Baron forced a groundout to second to hold off the Gators.
Hart wrapped up her dominating performance in the top of the seventh when the junior retired the side on three strikeouts to win the game.
In the first game, Sage's Kiersten Duncan (Millerton, NY/Taconic Hills) hit her second two-run homer in two days. St. Joseph's was led at the plate by Theresa Cardello with two RBI's on one hit while Ashley Steponaitis went 2-4 with one RBI.
Cardello (8-2) was credited with the win on a complete game, seven strikeout effort while Ford (8-7) picked up the loss on a seven strikeout, eight inning effort.
The Golden Eagles took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Arbiter scored on a Stephonaitis single up the middle. Sage took the lead in the bottom of the fourth when Duncan went yard over the centerfield fence for her second home run of the season.
In the bottom of the fifth, Sage had runners on second and third, but a 5-3-2 double play at first and home left the Gators with a runner on third and two outs on the board. Cardello embraced the pressure and struck out the next batter to keep it a one run game.
In the top of the sixth, Ashley Accardi came in to pinch hit for McFadzen with one out and runners on first and second. The freshman did her job and tied the game 2-2 on a single to centerfield. St. Joseph's then had runners on third and second after a stolen base, but Hart came up with a strikeout and a groundout to keep the game tied.
In the bottom of the seventh, Sage had Aanisah Taylor (Great Barrington, MA/Monument Mountain Regional) on third with two outs, but Cardello came up with a big strikeout to force extra innings.
In the top of the eighth, St. Joseph's scored two unearned runs on a Cardello single to right center to take a 4-2 lead. Sage had runners on first and second with no outs until the Golden Eagles made a 5-3 ground-rule-double-play. The Gators still had a runner in scoring position with Ford on second, but Cardello forced a groundout to third to get the win.
With her effort today, Adams passed fourth ranked Kellie Jones in career hits with 144. Kristen Silk's stolen base in game two tied her for eighth place in single-season stolen bases at 13.
After today's split, Sage remains in third at 7-4 behind first place Mount Saint Mary (11-1) and the second place Golden Eagles (10-2). Rounding out the top six are Farmingdale State (6-4), Mount Saint Vincent (5-5) and Purchase (5-5).
Sage returns on Wed., Apr. 19 for their fourth straight home game against local foe Union College. The first pitch is set to be tossed at 3:30 p.m.
