Naples, FL – On Monday the SUNY Brockport softball team split its pair of games down in Florida at North Collier Park. The team fell to William Paterson, 10-2, before winning in dramatic fashion against Rutgers-Newark, 6-5.
Trailing by one run in the bottom of the seventh, Brockport was able to load the bases with just one out.
Amanda Blakely came up clutch with the walk-off, 2-run single to lift the Golden Eagles to victory. They improve to 2-6 after four days of action down south.
Brockport 2, William Paterson 10 – Game 1
Kellie Gentile continued her hot start to the season with a 2-for-3 effort at the plate. She stole two bases and scored both of Brockport's runs in the first contest of the day.
Emma DeJesus went 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Amanda Blakely was 1-for-1,
Olivia Hayden batted 1-for-2, and
Jodie Burdick was credited with one RBI in the loss to William Paterson.
Roseland Stroh (L, 0-1) made her first start of the young season in the circle. She struck out one batter in 2.0 innings of work, eventually receiving the losing decision.
Victoria Angelo stepped in as the reliever in the third, giving up just one hit and had no earned runs scored against her in the final 2.0 innings.
The Pioneers from William Paterson got off to a strong start, scoring six runs in the first inning. They added two more in the second, extending the advantage to 8-0.
Burdick would bring Gentile home in the third to put the shutout bid to an end, however the Green and Gold still trailed by seven runs. William Paterson brought two more runners home in the third.
With an RBI single in the fifth, DeJesus sent Gentile home to score again. This would be the last score of the game, as Brockport was unable to cut further into the deficit. The team lost Monday's game one, 10-2, in five innings.
Brockport 6, Rutgers-Newark 5 – Game 2
Amanda Blakely went a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate against Rutgers-Newark, but no hit was as big as her last one. Trailing, 5-4, with the bases loaded she hit a 2-run, walk-off single to shallow right center.
Freshman
Riley Barrett was 3-for-3 in the lead-off spot, connecting for one RBI and scoring a run.
Kellie Gentile had two RBIs and a double with a 3-for-4 effort at the dish.
Olivia Hayden also had a double, finishing 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
Jenna Downey,
Erin Dougherty, and
Hailey Burdick all reached base multiple times in the contest. Dougherty and Burdick each scored a run, while Downey's pinch runner
Danielle Wenzek touched home plate as well.
For now the third straight time, sophomore
Fiona Gibiser (W, 2-2) threw for a complete game. She got her second win of the season with five strikeouts in 7.0 innings, allowing five earned runs.
Rutgers-Newark had things going in the first, taking a quick 2-0 lead. In the bottom half of the inning Brockport responded to make it 2-1.
Annie Dipirro hit a sac fly to left field, bringing
Riley Barrett home.
The offense continued in the second, as both teams added to their tallies. Rutgers-Newark stretched its lead to 5-1, with the Golden Eagles up in the bottom of two. This time Barrett would send a teammate home, with
Olivia Hayden coming around to score.
A few batters later,
Kellie Gentile hit an RBI double to knock
Erin Dougherty home. After two innings the Green and Gold was looking at a 5-3 deficit. Gentile closed the gap with an RBI single in her next plate appearance. Hayden touched home once again, making it a 5-4 game.
Gibiser struck out the third batter in the top of the seventh, throwing a 1-2-3 inning in a crucial point of the game. In the bottom half of seven,
Jenna Downey got on base after a fielding error to put the tying run on base.
Danielle Wenzek would step in to pinch run.
The next batter,
Hailey Burdick, would walk to put the game-winning run on first. Hayden hit a clutch single up the middle to load the bases.
Amanda Blakely then stepped to the plate to hit the walk-off single. The poke to shallow right brought Wenzek and Burdick in to score, giving Brockport the 6-4 win.
The Golden Eagles continue its showing at the Gene Cusic Classic at North Collier Park on Tuesday. They take on Emerson College at 9am and St. Elizabeth University at 11am.
