Purchase, NY
(April 17, 2017) – Purchase College and St. Joseph's College-Brooklyn exchanged 3-2 victories Monday.
The Panthers opened with a 3-2, extra-inning victory, coming from behind to upend the Bears in Skyline Conference play. But SJC-BKLYN would take game two, posting a 3-2 win of its own. The Panthers had the tying run on third in the bottom of the seventh inning in game two with one out, but failed to push the run across.
In the opener, SJC-BKLYN scored one run in the fourth and one run in the fifth as starter Victoria Mahoney was coasting. Brianna Baglino had an RBI sacrifice fly for the game's first run. In the fifth, Amber Wainwright singled home Stephanie Rancel for the 2-0 lead.
But in the sixth, Purchase came alive at the plate, backing ace
Nicole Fortuna (SR/New Rochelle, NY).
Briana Leon (SR/Glen Cove, NY) and
Lisa Kentris (SO/Latham, NY) came around to score on a smash to third base off the bat of
Victoria Capone-Froio (JR/Yonkers, NY). On the comebacker to third, SJC-BKLYN tried to gun down the runner at the plate as an error allowed both runs to score and tie the game.
A beautiful slide by Kentris at the plate paved the way for the comeback win.
Mahoney and Fortuna went toe-to-toe the remainder of the game, hurling scoreless seventh and eighth innings, respectively.
Fortuna posted a scoreless top of the ninth before the Panthers broke through once more against Mahoney. In the bottom half,
April Uhl (SR/Jackson, NY) scored the game-winning run on what would have likely been a game-ending sacrifice fly off the bat of Kentris. However, the outfielder botched the ball and that allowed Uhl to score.
Fortuna improved to 5-2 in the circle. Kentris paced the Panthers offensively, collecting two of the team's seven hits.
Wainwright led SJC-BKLYN in the opener. She finished with two hits and an RBI. Mahoney fell to 9-4 in the loss.
In game two, the Bears scored one run in the first, one run in the third and another in the fourth – the eventual game winner. Rancel doubled to right center in the fourth to plate the team's third run. Wainwright had the RBI single in the third and a fielder's choice off the bat of Baglino scored the game's first run.
SJC-BKLYN starter Theresa Armano pitched five strong innings of scoreless softball in the circle before giving up two runs in the sixth. She was relieved in the seventh for Mahoney, who earned her first save of the season, stranding Hayes at third base.
Armano improved to 4-3 in the win.
The big blow for Purchase came off the bat of
Rachel Stockinger (FR/Putnam Valley, NY). The slugger belted a solo shot that made it 3-1. The Stockinger homer opened the door for the hosts.
Purchase rallied, putting two runners on in the inning, including
Antonina Fiore (JR/Mount Sinai, NY), who would score on a clutch single to left by Kentris. The RBI single made it 3-2.
But the Panthers fell just short in the seventh.
Purchase is now 6-10 overall, including 6-6 in league play.
