ROCHESTER, NY- The Utica College softball team dropped both games to host Nazareth College, 3-2 and 2-0, in the Empire 8 Conference finale Tuesday afternoon.
The Pioneers finish the regular season with a 22-16 overall record and a 9-5 mark in the E8. Utica has secured the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament and will take on No. 2 seed St. John Fisher College in the opening game of the 2016 Empire 8 Conference tournament on Friday morning at 10 a.m. at Ithaca College.
Sophomore
Sabrina Stransky (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place) led the way as she was 4-for-7 on the day, while classmate
Samantha Whitehouse (Greenwich, NY/Greenwich) was 2-for-3 in game two.
Utica 2, Nazareth 3 (8 Inn.)- Game One Final
Nazareth used its third solo home run of the day in the bottom of the eighth inning to earn a walk off victory. The Pioneers opened the scoring in the first inning as senior
Cassie Smith (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem Central) hit a sacrifice fly to left field that scored classmate
Alysa Russell (Mechanicville, NY/Mechanicville).
Nazareth evened the score in the bottom of the fourth as Maureen Rogers hit her first homer of the season. Utica once again took the lead in the sixth inning when sophomore
Dominique Soto (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place) singled to center field, scoring
Natalie Lawrence (Floral Park, NY/Floral Park). The Golden Flyers responded in the bottom half of the inning as Meghan Barry hit a solo shot over the left field fence for her first home run.
Despite having a runner in scoring position and just one out in the top of the eighth, Utica was unable to plate the go-ahead run, setting up Naz's walk off opportunity.
Sabrina Stransky (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place) was 2-for-4, while Russell, Soto, and freshman
Hayley Fredericks (Suffern, NY/Suffern) each had one hit.
Brittany Meka (Averill Park, NY/Averill Park) and
Abby Monroe (Watertown, NY/General Brown) combined for four strikeouts in the loss.
Utica 0, Nazareth 2- Game Two Final
Despite outhitting the host team for the second game in a row, Utica was held scoreless for the first time in the last 26 games. The Golden Flyers once again scored their only runs on a home run, this time by a two-run shot in the sixth inning off the bat of Stephanie Mongelli to improve to 20-20 on the year.
Stransky and Whitehouse were each 2-for-3, while
Nicole Rice (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville South),
Cassie Smith (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem Central),
Abby Monroe (Watertown, NY/General Brown), and
Natalie Lawrence (Floral Park, NY/Floral Park) each had one hit.
Stransky struck out one and allowed just two runs in six innings of work in the loss, while Rachel Mertens fanned three in her 11
th win of the season.