NEW YORK, N.Y. - The Purchase College softball team, faced tough losses against Baruch College during Saturday afternoon's doubleheader.
The Blue and Orange now stand at 4-7 overall, while the Bearcats advance to 6-8.
Game One: Baruch 3, Purchase 0 (7 inn)
Tyler Salerno (FY/Kings Park, NY) started the game with a single, putting a runner on base. Rebecca Bronzi (JR/Lagrangeville, NY) singled, following a strikeout, advancing Salerno to second. Despite the effort, Katie Straub's (FY/Lynbrook, NY) hit resulted in an out, keeping the runners in place, and another strikeout ended the inning for the visitors.
In the bottom of the first, Baruch led off with a homer, bringing in the first run of the game. Olivia Goff (FY/Syracuse, NY) recorded her first strikeout for Purchase on the next batter, but a single followed by a triple drove another runner home, extending the home team's lead 2-0, before Goff managed to strikeout two more batters.
All would remain quiet until the bottom of the fourth when Baruch would score the final run of the game, 3-0.
Goff (2-2) delivered a strong performance on the mound for Purchase, recording nine strikeouts over six innings.
Game Two: Baruch 9, Purchase 5 (7 inn)
The Bearcats took the lead early, opening up the scoreboard in the bottom of the second inning of the second game, 2-0.
At the top of the third, the Panthers capitalized on the change in pitching to get on the scoreboard. Melissa Harper (FY/Patchogue, NY) initiated with a single, advancing to second on a wild pitch. Devynn Hernandez (FY/Ossining, NY) followed suit with another single, pushing Harper to third base. With bases loaded after Jade D'Errico (SR/Wantagh, NY) was hit by a pitch, Salerno delivered a crucial single, allowing Harper to score and putting Purchase on the board, 2-1.
In the bottom of the third, the Bearcats seized back the momentum, scoring three consecutive runs. Goff then took over pitching duties from Abigail Lipkin (SO/Bethlehem, PA) to conclude the inning 5-1.
The bottom of the fourth saw the home team secure their third homerun of the night, extending their lead 7-1.
In the top of the 5th, Allison Cammarata (FY/Coram, NY) and Salerno added two runs, narrowing the gap to 7-3.
The Bearcats would score two more runs before the teams entered into the final inning, 9-3.
Desperate for a momentum shift, the Blue and Orange found hope in Samantha Christopher's (FY/North Babylon, NY) homerun. Maria Konieczny (FY/Hadley, MA) followed with a sacrifice hit, allowing Bronzi to score. Despite their efforts, these runs proved to be the team's last, resulting in a final score of 9-5.
Salerno lead the team with two hits and two RBI's while Christopher rallied the team with her homer.
On the mound, Lipkin (1-3) was tagged with the loss after allowing five runs on seven hits and recording one strikeout.
Goff pitched the second half of the game, allowing four runs on five hits while recording five strikeouts.
Next up, the Blue and Orange will travel to Danbury, CT on April 2nd for a matchup against Western Connecticut University. The game is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.
