ELMIRA, NY- The Utica College softball team split with host Elmira College, winning 5-0 and dropping game two 6-5, in Empire 8 Conference action Friday afternoon.
 
Junior Samantha Whitehouse (Greenwich, NY/Greenwich) was 4-for-7 on the day to lead the Pioneers.
 
Utica 5, Elmira 0- Game One Final
The Pioneers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first and added two more runs in the fourth inning to cruise to a 5-0 shutout win in game one.
 
Junior Samantha Whitehouse (Greenwich, NY/Greenwich) got things going as she hit a leadoff triple in the first.  The next batter, Hayley Fredericks (Suffern, NY/Suffern), singled to left to score Whitehouse.  Kassidy Ogren (Albany, NY/Colonie Central) and Dominique Soto (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place) also had RBI singles in the first to help Utica to a three-run lead.
 
UC tacked on two insurance runs in the fourth thanks to a single down the left field line by Nicole Rice (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville South) that scored two.
 
Whitehouse finished game one going 3-for-3 with two runs scored, while Kimberly Beattie (Levitton, NY/Division Ave) was 2-for-3. Rice was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Ogren, Soto, and Fredericks each had one hit.
 
Junior Brittany Meka (Averill Park, NY/Averill Park) struck out six and allowed just three hits in the complete-game shutout.
 
Utica 5, Elmira 6- Game Two Final
After two scoreless innings, the Pioneers got on the board with a pair of runs in the third thanks to RBI singles by Hayley Fredericks (Suffern, NY/Suffern) and Nicole Rice (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville South).  The Soaring Eagles responded, however, in the bottom of the inning as they plated three runs to take a 3-2 lead. 
 
Elmira added two more scores in the fourth inning to give the home team a three-run cushion.
 
Utica rallied in the fifth as Kimberly Beattie (Levitton, NY/Division Ave) and Jamie Miller (Boonville, NY/Adirondack) each hit singles to start the inning.  Samantha Whitehouse (Greenwich, NY/Greenwich) doubled to left center to score both Beattie and Miller and bring the Pioneers within one.  Then, a sac fly by Hayley Fredericks (Suffern, NY/Suffern) drove in Whitehouse to even the score at 5-5. Utica kept up the pressure and had the bases loaded with just one out, but the Soaring Eagles were able to force a double play to get out of the inning. 
 
Elmira was able to score the eventual winning run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the fifth to pick up its first conference win of the season.
 
Jamie Miller (Boonville, NY/Adirondack) was 2-for-3 with two runs scored, while Nicole Rice (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville South) was 2-for-4 to finish the day going 4-for-8 at the dish and recording two steals.
 
Whitehouse, Fredericks, Beattie, Kassidy Ogren (Albany, NY/Colonie Central), Madison Akots (Wynantskill, NY/Emma Willard School), and Sabrina Stransky (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place) each had one hit for UC.  Fredericks and Whitehouse added one steal apiece on the day. 
 
Stransky and Brittany Meka (Averill Park, NY/Averill Park) combined for five strikeouts in game two, while their counterpart, Katie McDougal fanned three in the win.
 
The Pioneers (10-14, 3-5 Empire 8) return to action Tuesday as they wrap up their road trip at Union College.  First pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.