Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

Utica, NY (3/29/2013) – The Utica College softball team won its fourth game in three days on Friday afternoon, downing visiting Skidmore College 10-3 and 12-5 in a double header at Greenman Field.  Freshman Alysa Russell (Mechanicville, NY/Mechanicville) kept her hot streak going, as she went 4-for-7 with four runs scored and eight RBIs over the course of both games.  Russell posted two doubles and one homerun on the day for the Pioneers.  Junior Chelsea Monroe (Watertown, NY/General Brown) went 2-for-3 four RBIs and two runs scored, while hitting her first grand slam as a Pioneer, in game two for UC. 

Seven different players registered at least two hits for Utica in the two game stretch.  Cassie Smith (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem Central) went 3-for-5 with two
In her last four games, Russell has combined to go 8-for-12 with 12 RBIs, eight runs scored, three doubles and one home run. 

Utica 10, Skidmore 3 (Game One) -

Freshman pitcher Erica Colucci (Glenville, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) threw her first collegiate complete game, striking out 11 batters for the Pioneers in game one.  She allowed just two earned runs in the outing. 

The Pioneers jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the bottom half of the third inning after a bases loaded double by Russell cleared the bags, scoring Mallory Ingalls (Oriskany, NY/Oriskany), Courtney Fitzgerald (Albany, NY/Colonie Central) and Bridgette Plummer (Saratoga Springs, NY/Schuylerville).  Carcone followed that up with an RBI single, scoring Russell, before Cassie Smith (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem Central) closed out the third inning scoring with an RBI single.

Skidmore got two runs back in the top half of the fourth, but the Pioneers quickly erased the scoring push by the Thoroughbreds by tallying two of their own in the bottom half of the inning.  Russell led the charge once again with a two RBI double. 

After Skidmore got a run back in the top of the fifth, the Pioneers sealed the victory with a three-run bottom half, to earn the 10-3 victory.  Senior leadoff hitter Meghan Matan (Latham, NY/Shaker), sophomore Christy Traglia (Mohawk, NY/Mohawk) and Fitzgerald each registered RBIs in the bottom of the fifth for Utica.

Utica 12, Skidmore 5 (Game Two) -

The Pioneers fell into an early 3-0 hole over the course of the first two innings in game two, but UC used a nine run fifth inning to come from behind for the win.  Senior first baseman Bridgette Plummer (Saratoga Springs, NY/Schuylerville) started the fifth inning rally with an RBI double, before Fitzgerald registered a single up the middle to score Traglia, knotting the score at 3-3.  Russell put the Pioneers ahead with a fielder's choice, scoring Sarah Kinney (Herkimer, NY/Herkimer), and Carcone added to the big inning with a two-RBI single. 

Chelsea Monroe (Watertown, NY/General Brown) cleaned things up in the fifth when she drilled a grand slam down the left field line to put the Pioneers on top by the score of 10-3. 

Skidmore posted a small comeback threat with two runs in the top of the sixth, but that idea was thwarted by the bat of Russell, who capped her career day with a towering two-run home run to center field in the bottom half of the inning.

Sophomore Briona Enny (Queensbury, NY/Queensbury) pitched five innings, allowing two earned runs in the game two victory for UC.  Abby Monroe (Watertown, NY/General Brown) came on to close out the game in the sixth, striking out five of the six batters that she faced.