Box Score - Game 1
Box Score - Game 2

Purchase, NY (Apr. 21, 2014) – After nearly pulling off a comeback win in game one before falling one-run short, Purchase softball regrouped and bested SUNY Cobleskill in convincing fashion in game two Monday evening at home.

The Panthers, who fell 5-4 in the opener, leaving the tying run at second base, bounced back in game two, delivering a 9-5 victory to split the non-conference action. In the process, Purchase improved to 8-18. The Fighting Tigers are now 9-7.

In game one, Cobleskill opened with a pair of back-to-back singles. A fielder's choice handed the Tigers a quick 1-0 lead. Panther starter Nicole Fortuna (FR/New Rochelle, NY) pitched out of trouble, inducing a 4-4-3 double play.

The visitors pushed across a run in the third after loading the bases, backed by two walks and a single to manufacture the second run.  

Meanwhile, Cobleskill starter Brianne Gray struck out four through three innings, limiting the hosts to one hit over those frames.

The power-pitching righty was sharp in the circle until the fourth, where the Panthers broke through and tied the game.  A leadoff single by Juliet-Rain Pagan (SR/Bronx, NY) and two errors helped the Panthers get back even.

However, Cobleskill answered back with two of its own in the top of the fifth. Three hits sparked the two runs. The Tigers added a single run in the sixth after Purchase scratched across a run in the fun. An error aided Cobleskill in the sixth. Fortuna came around to score in the fifth on an RBI double by Christine Leo (SR/Monroe, CT).

In the bottom of the seventh, Purchase refused to go quietly. Trailing 5-3 with one out, Fortuna walked and after the Tigers recorded the second out of the inning, Leo doubled again, this time, down the left field line, plating Fortuna to cut the lead to one.

But Gray was able to secure the final out for the narrow win.   

Purchase was paced by Leo in game one. She recorded two hits and two RBI. The top of the order did the most damage for Cobleskill, with the first three hits accounting for eight of the 11 hits. Madeline DeMelio led the way with four hits and one RBI in game one. 

Fortuna returned to the hill in game two and allowed one hit in the first inning, but she recorded two ground outs and a fly out to get the Panthers, who were feeling some momentum despite the loss in game one, right back in the dugout.

The Tigers started Megan Golden in game two. The Panthers got to Golden early, scoring one run on two hits in the bottom of the first. ToniAnn Licata (JR/Mount Kisco, NY) singled advancing Christina Sanderson (SR/Schaghticoke, NY), who reached on a one-out walk. Mary Adams (FR/Milton, PA) followed with a sacrifice fly that plated the game's first run. With two outs and runners on second and third, Golden escaped further trouble by securing the final out of the inning.

Fortuna navigated around a single hit in the second and then led off the second with an infield single. She moved to third on an infield error as the Panthers tried to bunt the runner over. With runners on first and third and one out, a wild pitch plated Fortuna for a 2-0 lead. But Golden buckled down again and limited the damage.   

The Panthers scored two more runs in the third before Cobleskill got on the board in the fourth. Purchase kept the pressure with two runs in the fifth after the visitors clawed back with four runs in the top half of the inning.

Fortuna regrouped and pitched a scoreless sixth and a scoreless seventh to earn her seventh win of the season. She allowed three earned runs in the win.

The big hits of the third included a double to left by Licata that plated one and a key hit from April Uhl (FR/Jackson Heights, NY) for an RBI. Uhl was impressive both at the plate and in the field, where she flashed plenty of leather in the doubleheader, making several great grabs at third base. She finished with four hits, two RBI, one putout and two assists. Briana Leon (FR/Glen Cove, NY) would later double, scoring Uhl for a three-run inning.

An inning later, Licata highlighted the fifth offensively, doubling in two more. Like Uhl, the slugger finished game two with four hits of her own. The duo accounted for eight of the team's 14 hits. Fortuna added two hits in the game-two win, helping her own cause on the hill. Licata, Uhl and Leon were the RBI leaders with Licata plating three and Uhl and Leon contributing two RBI each.

The Panthers conclude the season Tuesday in another non-conference doubleheader. Purchase welcomes York for a 3 p.m. start