UTICA, NY- The Utica College softball team split with visiting Skidmore College, winning 7-6 in extra innings, before dropping the night cap 14-5 to the Thoroughbreds.
 
Junior Dominique Soto (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place) was 6-for-9 on the day with three RBIs and two runs scored to pace the Pioneers.  Utica returns to action Wednesday as it hosts RPI.  Game time is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
 
Utica 7, Skidmore 6 (9 Innings)- Game One Final
In the bottom of the ninth, Sabrina Stransky (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place) got caught in a run down between third base and home but was able to beat the throw as she scored the winning run for the 7-6 walk off victory.
 
Utica jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first, but the visitors chipped away at the lead over the next few innings.  Facing a 6-4 deficit in the top of the seventh, Skidmore scored a pair of runs with two outs to send the game to extra innings. 
 
Neither team scored in the eighth inning, and the Pioneers were able to shut down the Thoroughbreds in the ninth giving UC the chance for the walk off.
 
Dominique Soto (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place), who already had a single, double, and triple in the game was robbed of the cycle as her blast bounced off the top of the center field fence and back into play, forcing Soto to settle for the double.  The hit did however advance Stransky to third, putting the winning run just 60 feet away. 
 
Hayley Fredericks (Suffern, NY/Suffern) reached base on a fielder's choice as Stransky got caught in the run down, but the Miller Place native was able to beat the throw and slide across the plate to give UC the win.
 
Soto and Nicole Rice (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville South) were each 4-for-5 in game one, while Kassidy Ogren (Albany, NY/Colonie Central) was 2-for-3 and Stransky was 2-for-4.  Jamie Miller (Boonville, NY/Adirondack), Alyssa Samborin (Schenectady, NY/Mohonasen), Samantha Whitehouse (Greenwich, NY/Greenwich) and Fredericks each recorded one hit.
 
Brittany Meka (Averill Park, NY/Averill Park) struck out four and allowed just five earned runs in nine innings of work, while Amanda Carilli had three strikeouts as she shouldered the loss.
 
Utica 5, Skidmore 14 (6 Innings)- Game Two Final
The Thoroughbreds jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first two innings and never looked back as they cruised to their 14^th win of the year.  Utica could not get much going until it was too late as Skidmore picked up the run-rule victory.
 
Sabrina Stransky (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place) was 3-for-4 in game two, while Alysa Samborin was 2-for-3.  Dominique Soto (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place) and Hayley Fredericks (Suffern, NY/Suffern) were each 2-for-4 with a run scored.  Kassidy Ogren (Albany, NY/Colonie Central) and Nicole Rice (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville South) also had hits for UC.
 
Samborin, Stransky, and Shannon Cool (Herkimer, NY/Herkimer) combined for six strikeouts in the loss.