Utica, NY - Coming off a doubleheader loss on Sunday, the Utica College softball team will look to get back on track this week when they take on Elmira College four times and Keuka College twice. The team will hit the road for Elmira on April 21 for a doubleheader starting at 3:30 p.m. April 24 will be another travel day, this time to Keuka Park to take on the Wolves in a doubleheader which starts at 1 p.m. UC will then wrap up its week at Greenman Field on Sunday as the team hosts a doubleheader against Elmira that will start at 1 p.m.
Follow Along: Fans can keep up with the action on Wednesday when the team travels to Elmira by following
https://bit.ly/2xvMiwx while using
https://bit.ly/3dxbxDY to follow along on Saturday at Keuka. On Sunday fans can follow live stats through
https://bit.ly/2wtxUV5 when UC returns home to take on Elmira.
Last Time Out: UC was swept by #12 St. John Fisher College on Sunday, dropping game one 9-1 before falling in game two 11-1.
Megan O'Keefe (Albany, NY/Bethlehem Central) drove in the only run in game one while
Abbigayle Finch (New Paltz, NY/New Paltz) did the same in game two.
Not Her First Rodeo: Madison Akots (Wynantskill, NY/Emma Willard School) entered the year as a career .319 hitter in her three seasons as a Pioneer. Her consistency in the past has been more than matched this season as the graduate student has recorded a hit in 13 of her last 14 games, helping her average climb to .400 and move her up to 14th in the conference. Akots enters the new week on a hot streak, having gone 7-for-14 at the dish over the team's six games last week while also driving in a run against Nazareth.
Lean On Me: Jordyn Conte (Newport, NY/West Canada Valley High School) has stepped up big time in the circle with the recent absence of
Gabriella Caccamo (Suffern, NY/Suffern). Conte's six wins ties her for the second most in the conference while her 3.78 ERA is good enough for sixth in the Empire 8, as are her 29 strikeouts. She's also been one of the top workhorses in the conference as her 62 innings in the circle are the third most in the E8. She's also held opponents to a .286 batting average which places her seventh in the conference. Impressively, Conte has kept the ball in the park all season as she is one of five qualified pitchers who have yet to allow a homerun this season.
Scouting Elmira: The Eagles enter the week 3-9 (2-4 Empire 8) while sitting right behind the Pioneers in the Empire 8 standings. Elmira and UC have yet to face off this season as the four games this week will be the first and last times they play this regular season. The Eagles currently have the worst team batting average in the conference (.228), recording 77 hits in 337 tries at the plate. However, they are prone to the long ball as the team's eight home runs are second in the conference. Katie Distefano is responsible for half of the home runs while leading the team with a .351 average. The pitching staff owns a 5.00 ERA while Jillian Cortez sits seventh in the conference with a 3.76 ERA of her own.
Keuka's Report: The Wolves currently own a 3-7 (2-6 Empire 8) record and hold sixth place in the E8. The last time UC and Keuka met the teams split at Greenman Field on April 14 with the Pioneers taking game one 3-2 and the Wolves coming away with a 5-3 win in game two. Keuka enters having lost three in a row while averaging about three runs per game in those games. The Wolves hit .243 as a team while just 14.5 percent (8/55) of the team's hits have gone for extra bases. Helena Hill leads the team with a .462 batting average which also ranks fourth in the conference. They aren't prone to running crazy on the bases however, they have converted on 11 out of 12 stolen base opportunities. In the field Keuka has struggled, ranking last in the conference with a .911 fielding percentage. The pitching staff, however, owns the fourth best ERA in the E8 (3.95) while opponents have hit .288 off of them. Whitney Tyler has been the ace in the circle for the Wolves as well as one of the best in the conference. She's 2-2 this season and owns a 1.71 ERA which is the third best in the Empire 8. She's also struck out 27 batters to six walks while holding opposing hitters to a .203 average.
Up Next: UC will wrap up its regular season with doubleheaders on April 28 against Sage, April 29 against Cazenovia and May 1 against Houghton. All three matchups will be home.
