ALFRED, N.Y. (May 1, 2015) – The Stevens Institute of Technology softball team dropped both of its Empire 8 Conference Championship games Friday with a 4-3 loss to Ithaca College before a 9-0 loss to No. 18 Alfred University.
The sweep ends Stevens' season at 26-9-1 while Ithaca and Alfred will advance in the double-elimination tournament.
Ithaca 4, Stevens 3
Both teams threatened in their halves of the first without anything to show for it before the Ducks broke through in the second. With runners on second and third, freshman
Farryl Groder singled to score one, followed by a two-RBI single from junior
Sydney Spitz to put Stevens up 3-0.
The Bombers answered with two in the bottom of the second before knotting the game at three with another in the third. Both teams traded zeroes from there until Ithaca ended it in the eighth.
With runners on first and second and two outs, freshman Allie Colleran singled to center to drive in the winning run, sending the Ducks into an elimination game.
Spitz led the Ducks offensively with two RBIs while freshman
Lauren Shirley added two hits and a walk.
Alfred 9, Stevens 0
The Saxons struck first with an unearned run in the first before a two-run home run put the Ducks in a 3-0 hole. An RBI triple in the second put Alfred up 4-0 where the lead stood after a scoreless third and fourth.
An RBI single and two-RBI double in the fifth extended the Ducks deficit to 7-0, and was held after a leadoff single from freshman
Corinne Loncar went wasted in the bottom of the fifth.
Spitz walked to lead off the sixth, but a double play followed by a line-out kept the Ducks off the board. Alfred added two more runs of insurance in the sixth before working around a two-out single in the seventh to seal the Stevens loss.
Loncar led the Ducks with two hits while Spitz and senior
Noelle Mulligan each drew a walk.
UP NEXT With the E8 exit, the Ducks will now await their postseason fate Monday.
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