Skidmore 9, Utica 8 - Game One Box Score

Skidmore 11, Utica 7 (8 Inn.) - Game Two Box Score

Utica, N.Y. (4/3/2011) – The Utica College softball team dropped a pair of heartbreakers against visiting Skidmore College in the Pioneers' home-opener at Greenman Field Sunday afternoon. The Pioneers took an 8-2 lead into the top of the seventh in game one, but allowed seven runs in the top half of the final inning and went on to lose 9-8. The Pioneers rallied from a 4-1 deficit and were able to force extra innings in game two, but the Thoroughbreds outscored UC 7-3 in the eighth frame to earn an 11-7 victory.

Sophomore first baseman Bridgette Plummer (Saratoga Springs, NY/Schuylerville) led the way for the Pioneers (7-7) and went 5-for-9 with four runs scored and three RBIs over the course of two losses. Sophomore catcher Mallory Ingalls (Oriskany, NY/Oriskany) went 4-for-8 with three RBIs and three runs scored, while classmate Hannah Barton (Adams Basin, NY/Brockport) also went 4-for-8 with three RBIs.

Sophomore pitcher Stephanie Romanow (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) threw ten innings over the course of two games and struck out nine.

The Pioneers came out hot in game one and a pair of two-run home runs by Plummer and freshman Kristi Jones gave Utica a 5-0 lead in the first inning. Ingalls and Barton teamed up for two RBI singles in the bottom half of the second inning to give UC a commanding 7-0 lead right out of gates.

Skidmore (5-7) started its rally with two runs in the top of the fifth and completed the comeback by tacking on seven runs in the top of the seventh to earn the victory. Back-to-back home runs by Julia Swartz and Caitlin Ketcham helped spark the big come from behind victory.

Six errors proved to be the demise of the Pioneers in game two. Skidmore earned a 4-1 lead by the third inning after Ketcham ripped an RBI double of UC junior hurler Heather Kingsbury (Williamson, NY/Williamson).

The Pioneers fought their way back in the game starting in the bottom of the fifth inning when Barton hit an RBI single, and freshman Kayla Cole added an RBI single of her own, to cut the Thoroughbreds lead to 4-3. Ingalls posted an RBI single down the left field line in the bottom of the sixth to knot the score at 4-4.

Skidmore had another huge inning in the top of the eighth when it tacked on seven runs to essentially put the game out of reach. Charlotte Evan's grand slam and four Pioneer errors dug UC into a massive hole headed into the bottom of the eighth. Utica was able to spark a minor comeback, posting three runs, but it proved to be too late as the Thoroughbreds earned the four run victory.

Utica returns to action on Tuesday when the Pioneers host local rival Hamilton College for a double header at 3:30 p.m.

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