UTICA, NY- The Utica College softball team dropped a pair of heartbreakers Saturday as it fell to Stevens Institute of Technology 7-1 (8 Inn.) and 7-4 in Empire 8 Conference action. The Pioneers will look to rebound Sunday as they host E8 frontrunner, Ithaca College.  Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m.
 
Utica 1, Stevens 7 (8 Innings)- Game One Final
The Pioneers got on the board in the bottom of the first as sophomore Nicole Rice (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville South) doubled to left center to score classmate Hayley Fredericks (Suffern, NY/Suffern). 
 
That score held up until the seventh inning when the Ducks evened the score, thanks to a lead off solo home run by Corinne Loncar.  Despite having a runner in scoring position and just one out, the Pioneers were unable to plate the winning run in the bottom of the inning, forcing extra innings.
 
The Ducks broke the game open in the eighth as they scored six runs on five hits to take a commanding 7-1 lead.  Utica could not get anything going in their next at bat as the Ducks came away with their sixth E8 victory. 
 
Rice, Fredericks, Samantha Whitehouse (Greenwich, NY/Greenwich), Sabrina Stransky (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place), Alyssa Samborin (Schenectady, NY/Mohonasen), and Jamie Miller (Boonville, NY/Adirondack) each had one hit.
 
Brittany Meka (Averill Park, NY/Averill Park) struck out four and allowed just three earned runs in 7 1/3 innings of work in the loss.  Stevens' Christine LaRochelle fanned five in the complete-game victory to pick up her tenth win of the year.
 
Utica 4, Stevens 7- Game Two Final
After three scoreless innings, Stevens broke the deadlock with a pair of runs in the fourth.  The Ducks kept up the pressure by adding five more scores in the fifth to go up 7-0. 
 
The Pioneers responded in the bottom half of the inning, however thanks to RBIs from Kassidy Ogren (Albany, NY/Colonie Central), Samantha Whitehouse (Greenwich, NY/Greenwich), and Kimberly Beattie (Levitton, NY/Division Ave) to make it 7-4.  Utica looked to add another score as the Pioneers had the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth, but the Stevens defense held strong. 
 
UC had two hits in the seventh, but it was not able to score again as the Ducks held on for the 7-4 victory.
 
Sabrina Stransky (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place) was 2-for-3 at the plate to lead UC in game two, while Dominique Soto (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place), Haylay Fredericks, Nicole Rice (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville South), Jamie Miller (Boonville, NY/Adirondack), and Alyssa Samborin (Schenectady, NY/Mohonasen) each had one hit.  Samborin and Brittany Meka (Averill Park, NY/Averill Park) combined for seven strikeouts, while Samborin shouldered the loss.