Saints Sweep Skidmore, Clinch Post-Season Berth
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Tara FreemanLiz McGinley '13 was 3-for-7 with two home runs against Skidmore on Saturday.
Apr. 30: The St. Lawrence University softball team swept Skidmore College on Saturday in Saratoga Springs, NY by the scores of 6-4 (10) and 16-4. The victories clinch a spot for the Saints in the 2011 Liberty League Tournament, with seeding to be determined tomorrow with a doubleheader against Union College.
The Saints (11-17, 2-4) used opposite ways of victory on Saturday, as the team rallied in the seventh inning of game one, then got a game-winning two run single off the bat of rookie Caroline Kieltyka to steal game one in 10 innings. St. Lawrence then blitzed Skidmore (11-19, 0-6) in game two thanks to six-run innings in both the second and seventh.
First-year student Leslie Stratton was 5-for-9 on the day with four runs scored, while sophomore Liz McGinley was 3-of-7 with three RBI's and two home runs. Kieltyka (2), Lauren Weisbarth (4), Chelsea Cavellier (2), Khalshia White (2) and Meg Goodemote (2) all had multi-hit days for St. Lawrence.
In game one, Skidmore took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third on an RBI single by Christina Gargiso up the middle. Though the Saints would tie the score at 1-1 in the fifth on a solo home run by McGinley, the Thoroughbreds answered with a run in the bottom half for a 2-1 advantage. Charlotte Evans delivered the RBI single to score Molly Canavan.
Needing a run to stay in the game, St. Lawrence got the leadoff runner on base in the top of the seventh when White walked. After she advanced to second and third on a pair of ground outs, McGinley again came through with a two-out RBI single up the middle to tie the game at 2-2.
Senior pitcher Rachel Duffany got out of a jam in the bottom of the seventh, as she got a ground out to end the inning to strand the winning run at third. Neither team scored in the eighth inning, but St. Lawrence took a 3-2 lead in the top of the ninth as Duffany helped her cause with an RBI single. However, the Thoroughbreds showed their resiliency in the bottom half, scoring the tying run on a hit by Caitlin Ketcham before Duffany struck out Abby Fuhrman looking to end the threat and send the game to the 10th inning.
St. Lawrence was able to get its first three hitters of the 10th on base due to an error and consecutive singles. Weisbarth's single through the left side gave the Scarlet and Brown a one-run lead at 4-3. With one out and the bases loaded, Kieltyka delivered the key hit, plating two runs on an RBI single to give the Saints the game's largest lead at 6-3.
Though Duffany gave up an RBI single to Christina Hein in the bottom of the 10th, the Saints turned a 4-6-3 double play to get out of trouble and lock down the 6-4 victory. The Watertown, NY native allowed three earned runs on 12 hits over 10.0 innings with four strike outs to earn the win. Meanwhile, Fuhrman suffered the loss after pitching 1.1 innings in relief of Sam Crose. Crose went 5.0 innings, allowing one run on two hits.
Meanwhile, Goodemote (2-5) would earn the victory on the mound for St. Lawrence in game two, as she allowed three earned runs in 7.0 innings but picked up 16 runs of support from her teammates against Skidmore's pitching. Trailing 3-1 in the top of the second inning, St. Lawrence used RBI hits from Stratton and Weisbarth to tie the game at 3-3. After Weisbarth scored on an error, White drilled a three-run homer to give St. Lawrence a 7-3 lead.
The Scarlet and Brown continued to pour on the offense with two runs in the third thanks to an error and a sac fly from Weisbarth. After Skidmore tacked on a run in the bottom of the third to make the score 9-4, St. Lawrence answered with a run in the top of the fifth on a lead-off solo home run by McGinley. The visitors then put the game well out of reach with six runs on six hits and two errors in the seventh to take a 16-4 lead. Kieltyka hit a two-run homer, while rookie Natasha Bell added an RBI single.
St. Lawrence will face Union College tomorrow, Sunday, May 1 needing a sweep to earn the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament. The doubleheader will begin at 1:00pm.