UTICA, NY - The Utica College Softball team split an Empire 8 Conference doubleheader against Houghton College on Saturday, May 1st. The Pioneers came out with the high ground in game one as Madison Akots (Wynantskill, NY/Emma Willard School) scored on a visiting error in the seventh for a 2-1 walk-off win. The Pioneers then dropped the latter half of the doubleheader by a 9-6 score in game two at Greenman Field.
The split puts Utica at 12-12, and 7-11 in the Empire 8 Conference. Houghton is now 6-22. The game one win snapped a four game skid for the Pioneers, who will wrap up the regular season on Sunday at Elmira College.
Jordyn Conte (Newport, NY/West Canada Valley High School) fired a two-hitter in game one for the Pioneers to pick up the win. She is now 8-8 on the season.
Emily Joss (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls) was three-for-seven over the course of the doubleheader, with a double and a homer in game two. She also drove in three runs. Brooke Catlin (Brewerton, NY/Central Square High School) was 3-for-7 and scored three runs, and also tacked on a stolen base. Sara Stransky (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place) had a double in game one.
Across the two doubleheader games, the Pioneers out-hit the Highlanders 16-14.
Game 1: Utica 2, Houghton 1
In a competitive pitchers' duel between Utica's Jordyn Conte (Newport, NY/West Canada Valley High School) and Houghton's Kayla Loomis, the Pioneers came out on top as the game went down to the wire. With the matchup knotted up 1-1 in the seventh, Bailey McElwain (Baldwinsville, NY/Charles W. Baker High School) lifted a fly ball which was mishandled by the left fielder. With the ball skidding towards the wall, Madison Akots (Wynantskill, NY/Emma Willard School) took off of second and made the turn to the plate to score the winning run in walk-off fashion.
Conte notched the complete game win with a two-hitter. She struck out just one batter, but the Pioneers committed just one error and played sharp defense behind her. Kayla Loomis struck out six for the Highlanders and conceded just five hits.
Brooke Catlin (Brewerton, NY/Central Square High School), Sara Stransky (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place), Madison Akots (Wynantskill, NY/Emma Willard School), Adrian Duvall (Lisbon, NY/Lisbon Central School), and Erica Sanford (Boonvile, NY/Adirondack) all had hits for the Pioneers.
Utica took the lead in the first inning as Stransky doubled home Catlin for a 1-0 lead. The Highlanders answered in the fourth as Grace Thompson roped a double to right field to score Caitlyn Cybart. Neither pitcher blinked in the fifth or sixth inning before Akots crossed the plate with the winning run in the seventh.
Game 2: Houghton 9, Utica 6
The offenses certainly made up for lost time in game two as the sides combined to score fifteen runs on twenty three hits, and Houghton played strong defense down the stretch to avoid a Utica rally as the visitors salvaged the split.
Joss went 3-for-4 with a sixth inning home run and a double to go with three RBI. Brooke Catlin (Brewerton, NY/Central Square High School) was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and another pair driven in. Erica Sanford (Boonvile, NY/Adirondack) was 2-for-3 with a run scored. Bailey McElwain (Baldwinsville, NY/Charles W. Baker High School) was 2-for-4.
Gabriella Caccamo (Suffern, NY/Suffern) took her first loss of the season, while Loomis improved to a record of 5-18 with the win in the circle for the visiting side.
The Pioneers assumed early command of the game with a 3-0 lead as Joss doubled to bring in Catlin in the first, and Catlin ripped a single to left field which scored Sanford and Adrian Duvall (Lisbon, NY/Lisbon Central School) in the second.
Houghton responded by scoring the next seven runs in the game between the third and fourth inning for a 7-3 lead. Utica got two runs back in the fourth as Abbigayle Finch (New Paltz, NY/New Paltz) scored on an error, and Joss unleashed another RBI double to score Catlin.
A two-RBI double by Houghton's Carlee Miller dealt a critical blow to Utica's chances as the visitors took a 9-5 lead in the sixth. Emily Joss (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls) tried to spark a rally with a mighty solo home run to left field, but everything else the Pioneers put in play in the last two innings was handled by the Houghton defense as Utica took the 9-6 defeat.
