Utica, NY (4/13/12) – The Utica College softball team travels to Rochester, NY this weekend for four key Empire 8 games. On Saturday, the Pioneers will take on host Nazareth College at 1 and 3 p.m. before traveling to St. John Fisher on Sunday for a double-header beginning at 1 p.m.
Last Time Out: UC is fresh off a sweep of non-conference opponent Oswego State, winning game one 9-5, and game two 8-5… Junior
Mallory Ingalls (Oriskany, NY/Oriskany) went 6-for-7 with eight RBI, four runs scored and two home runs on the day… Freshman
Courtney Fitzgerald (Albany, NY/Colonie Central) went 5-for-8 with three RBI, two home runs and four runs scored… Pitchers
Heather Kingsbury (Williamson, NY/Williamson) and
Cassidy Thompson (Bend, OR/West Valley) each picked up wins for the Pioneers.
Where We Sit: UC is currently 18-9 overall and 1-3 in the Empire 8… The Pioneers are currently in fifth place in the Empire 8… Ithaca College (11-9 overall, 4-0 E8) sits atop the conference, while St. John Fisher (21-5 overall, 3-1 E8), Alfred (20-8 overall, 3-1 E8), and Stevens (12-14 overall, 3-1 E8) are tied for second… Elmira (4-6 overall, 0-4 E8) and Nazareth (6-18 overall, 0-4 E8) are tied for sixth.
Hot Hitting: Four different Pioneers totaled six home runs against Oswego… Joining Ingalls and Fitzgerald, juniors
Dominique Carcone (Frankfort, NY/New Hartford) and
Meghan Matan (Latham, NY/Shaker) also tallied homers for UC… Matan leads the team with a .515 batting average, fifteen stolen bases, and 24 runs scored, and ranks third with 18 RBI… Freshman
Christy Traglia (Mohawk, NY/Mohawk) is second on the team with a .373 average and is a perfect 8-for-8 in stolen bases.
On the Mound: Senior
Heather Kingsbury (Williamson, NY/Williamson) is 9-2 and leads the team with a 1.92 ERA and has 25 strikeouts… Freshman
Briona Enny (Queensbury, NY/Queensbury) is 4-4 and has registered a 2.77 ERA and a team-best 31 strikeouts… Freshman closer
Cassidy Thompson (Bend, OR/West Valley) is 2-2 and has a 2.49 ERA to go along with five saves… Senior
Haley Butler (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) is 3-3 with a 2.92 ERA… She also has a .286 batting average.
Scouting Naz: The Golden Flyers are currently 6-18 overall and 0-4 in the Empire 8… They are coming off a sweep of RIT (2-1, 7-6)… Naz is led by senior Casey Mathers, who has a .411 batting average and 13 RBI… UC is 3-5 against Naz dating back to 2008… Last year, the teams split, with Nazareth winning the first game 4-3, before UC rebounded for a 14-3 rout of the Golden Flyers… Junior
Bridgette Plummer (Saratoga Springs, NY/Schuylerville) led the Pioneers going 4-for-7 with three RBI and two runs scored.
Scouting Fisher: The Cardinals are currently 21-5 overall and 3-1 in the Empire 8… They are coming off a sweep over University of Pittsburgh-Bradford 17-5 and 9-0… UC is 2-18 against Fisher, dating back to 2003… Last year the Pioneers fell 9-3 and 10-0… Plummer led UC with two RBI.
Looking Ahead: Following this weekend, UC returns home for a match-up against the University of Rochester… The non-conference double-header is scheduled to being at 3:30 p.m. at Greenman Field.
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