ALBANY, NY - The Utica College softball team fell twice in walk-off fashion against Sage on Saturday. The Pioneers dropped game one 6-5, before dropping the back end of the doubleheader 10-9. The games were played at the Plumeri Sports Complex on the campus of the College of St. Rose in Albany.

Emily Joss (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls) was Utica's standout performer of the doubleheader with a 6-of-9 batting performance at the plate.

Game 1: Sage 6, Utica 5

The Pioneers assumed a 5-4 lead in the top of the seventh inning, but the host Gators battled back with two runs in the bottom of the frame for a walk-off 6-5 win. The game-winning play was a groundout by Mikayla Lindsey which plated center fielder Arianna Papas.

Emily Joss (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls) went 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Sara Stransky (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place) went 2-for-4 at the plate. Stransky, Joss, Kaitlyn Paul (Albany, NY/Guilderland), Abbigayle Finch (New Paltz, NY/New Paltz), and Megan O'Keefe (Albany, NY/Bethlehem Central) each drove in a run. Joss, Stransky, and Finch each had a double. In total, the Pioneers had nine hits.

Papas went 4-for-4 with 3 runs scored for the Gators.

In the circle, Sage's Taylor DiCranian got the win as she scattered four runs on six hits through five innings. Jordyn Conte (Newport, NY/West Canada Valley High School) took the loss with four runs on eight hits in six innings. She struck out three batters.

Utica got on top early in the second inning when O'Keefe roped a single to center field that scored Stransky. The tables quickly turned as the Gators drove in a pair of runs in the third, then added two more in the fifth for a 4-1 lead.

The Pioneers battled back to take the lead with a rally that lasted two innings. In the sixth, Joss scored on an RBI double to left field by Finch. In the seventh, a three-run surge propelled Utica ahead. Emily Joss (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls) singled in Erica Sanford (Boonvile, NY/Adirondack), Katilyn Paul drove in Julia Phelps (Waterford, NY/Shenendehowa High School), and Stransky ripped a single to bring in Joss to cap a big inning as the Pioneers jumped in front.

However, Sage had a two-run rally up its sleeve as a single by DiCranian brought in Kaitlyn Rice, and Lindsey brought in Papas for the winning run.

Game 2: Sage 10, Utica 9 (10th Inning)

Yet another walk off finish fell the Pioneers in game two as Utica dropped a 10-9 matchup.

Emily Joss (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls) again was potent offensively for Utica with a 3-for-5 performance at the dish. She scored a run and drove in another. Kaitlyn Paul (Albany, NY/Guilderland) had two doubles, scored two runs, and knocked in a run. Madison Akots (Wynantskill, NY/Emma Willard School) was 2-of-5 with a run scored and two RBI. Stransky drove in two runs on a pair of hits. Papas was 5-of-6 for the Gators.

In the circle, Jordyn Conte (Newport, NY/West Canada Valley High School) took the loss with 4.2 innings of relief. She scattered three runs on five hits. Makenna Reinold (Holland Patent, NY/Holland Patent High School) pitched three innings, and Gabby Caccamo fired two innings for UC. Makayla Lindsey got the relief win for Sage.

The Pioneers again secured the early lead as Paul doubled in Joss, and Stransky singled to short to drive in Paul for a 2-0 first inning lead. The Gators overturned the early deficit with three runs in the bottom of the first, and another in the bottom of the second for a 4-2 lead.

Utica rebounded to tie the score in the third as Stransky doubled in Paul, and O'Keefe landed another double into left center field to bring Stransky to the plate and tie the game at four.

The Gators went on to drive in another three runs spanning the third through fifth innings for a 7-4 lead, but again the Pioneers countered to take the lead. Madison Akots (Wynantskill, NY/Emma Willard School) singled, and an error allowed her to advance to second while Finch scored to trim the deficit to 7-5. A one-run game was created on a bases loaded walk by Joss, and the Pioneers snagged the lead as Jordyn Conte (Newport, NY/West Canada Valley High School) singled to left field, and an errant throw helped bring across Brooke Catlin (Brewerton, NY/Central Square High School) and Erica Sanford (Boonvile, NY/Adirondack) for an 8-7 lead in the sixth.

The lead was expanded to two runs when Akots brought in Finch on an RBI single in the seventh, but the Gators found an answer to bring the contest into extra frames. Dicranian doubled in Papas, and Emily Agate brought in DiCranian as a last-ditch rally succeeded to force extra innings.

A sacrifice fly in the tenth brought home the win for Sage.