Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 UTICA, NY- The Utica College softball team cruised to a pair of wins over visiting Houghton College, 10-2 and 7-1, in Empire 8 Conference action Monday afternoon.  Sophomore Jamie Miller (Boonville, NY/Adirondack) was 5-for-7 on the day to lead the Pioneers.
 
Utica has now won eight in a row, six of which were E8 conference games.  The Pioneers (14-14, 6-2 Empire 8) look to carry their momentum into a conference clash at Nazareth on Thursday.  The first pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
 
Utica 10, Houghton 2 (5 Innings)- Game One Final
After falling down 1-0 in the top of the first, the Pioneers got on the board in the bottom half of the inning thanks to a stand up double by Madison Akots (Wynantskill, NY/Emma Willard School) that scored two.  Jacqueline Aronin (Naugatuck, CT/Naugatuck High School) doubled to center to score Akots and then reached home herself thanks to a double steal with Sadie Evans (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa).  UC capped off the scoring for the inning as Samantha Whitehouse (Greenwich, NY/Greenwich) singled down the left field line that scored Evans. 
 
Utica used a pair of RBI singles by Akots and Aronin to take a commanding 8-1 lead through two innings.  Houghton was able to get one back in the third, but Nicole Rice (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville South) sealed the game one win as she hit a single with the bases loaded in the fifth for the run-rule victory.
 
Rice finished game one going 3-for-4 at the dish with two RBIs and two runs scored while Akots was 2-for-2 with two runs scored and a team-high three RBIs.  Aronin, Miller, and Whitehouse were each 2-for-3, while Madison Judge (Albany, NY/Colonie) and Brigid Johndrow (Bristol, CT/St. Paul Catholic) each had one hit.
 
Gabby Caccamo (Suffern, NY/Suffern) picked up her seventh win of the season as she allowed just five hits and one earned run.
 
Utica 7, Houghton 1- Game Two Final
The Pioneers once again had a quick start as they scored four runs in the first inning off of RBIs by Nicole Rice (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville South), Madison Judge (Albany, NY/Colonie), Madison Akots (Wynantskill, NY/Emma Willard School), and Samantha Whitehouse (Greenwich, NY/Greenwich).  Whitehouse extended the Utica lead in the third inning as she drove in two runs to put the Pioneers up 6-0.
 
Houghton got on the board in the fifth, but it was short-lived as Utica regained the six-run lead in the bottom of the inning as Judge drove in another run.
 
Whitehouse was 3-for-3 in game two to finish 5-for-6 on the day, while Miller was 3-for-4.  Sabrina Stransky (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place), Sara Stransky (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place), and Sadie Evans (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) also helped out the offense as each had one hit.
 
Alyssa Samborin (Schenectady, NY/Mohonasen) had a season-high seven strikeouts in the win.