UTICA, NY - The Utica University softball team broke out for 50 combined runs in its doubleheader sweep of the SUNY Morrisville Mustangs on Friday afternoon. In what was the team's home opener, the Pioneers downed the Mustangs 20-4 in game one (5 Inn.) and 30-0 in game two (5 Inn.).
Game 1: Utica 20, Morrisville 4 (5 Inn.)
Four Pioneers recorded two hits in the win in
Jennifer Rodriguez (Sylmar, CA/John F. Kennedy) (2-5, 3 runs, 1 RBI),
Cassidy Doiron (Beacon Falls, CT/Woodland Regional) (2-4, 4 runs, 3 RBI),
Lauren Paul (Guilderland, NY/Guilderland) (2-3, 2 runs, 2 RBI), and
Rachel Little (Burbank, CA/John Burroughs) (2-2, 2 RBI, 1 run).
Taylor Kraft (Loudonville, NY/Shaker) finished tied with Doiron for the team lead with three RBI as well. Six others had one hit and RBI in the win as well.
Kylie Murray (Eastchester, NY/Eastchester) earned her second win of the year as she went four innings in the circle allowing two runs, one earned, on one hit and six walks. She also struck out six Mustangs.
Kelly Thornton (Stanhope, NJ/Lenape Valley Regional) tossed the final innings and also gave up two runs, one earned, on one hit and one walk.
Morrisville sprung out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the 1st on a fielder's choice to second base. Utica had its first go-around at the dish and came through for Murray in a big way.
A seven-run frame started with an E8 off the bat of Rodriguez, allowing
Emily Joss (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls) and
Frankie Luster (Granada Hills, CA/Granada Hills Charter) to score for the lead. After that, Kraft, Paul and Little each singled home runs to go into the 2nd up 7-1.
Murray tossed a clean 2nd before the offense gave her two more runs to work with in the bottom half. Morrisville chalked up one more in the third on an E4 to make it 9-2. However, the Pioneers would leave no room for the Mustangs to comeback as they put up three in the 3rd inning and eight in the 4th to lead 20-2 going into the 5th.
The Mustangs scored twice more in the top of the 5th before the final out was recorded via run rule.
Game 2: Utica 30, Morrisville 0 (5 Inn.)
As a team, the Pioneers combined for 30 runs on 19 hits and 16 walks.
Jennifer Rodriguez (Sylmar, CA/John F. Kennedy) had an outing for the ages with not one, but two grand slams in what was a 21-run 2nd inning for the team. The freshman went 3-for-3 in all with nine RBI, four runs scored and a walk.
Frankie Luster (Granada Hills, CA/Granada Hills Charter) notched three hits and drove in five runs while
Alyssa Barbato (Rhinebeck, NY/Rhinebeck) also had three hits with four RBI.
Taylor Kraft (Loudonville, NY/Shaker) and
Brooke Beleza (Amherstview, Ontario/Jefferson Community College) had two hits apiece, Beleza doing so with two RBI, while
Emily Joss (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls) drove in four runs with a hit and three walks.
In the circle,
Lucia Gargiulo (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa) earned the win after three clean innings with just one hit and walk allowed to go with three strikeouts.
Maggie Habernig (Kingston, NY/Kingston) faced just two over the minimum in her two innings of relief as her lone base runners came on a hit by pitch and an error. She had three strikeouts as well.
The hot bats carried over into game two as Utica sent four runners home to lead 4-0 after one full. Gargiulo got through the Morrisville half of the 2nd with one walk issued which set up what could very well could have been the highest scoring inning in program history (historical data does not track team runs per inning).
Utica scored 21 runs in the bottom of the 2nd innings, led by a pair of grand slams by freshman sensation,
Jennifer Rodriguez (Sylmar, CA/John F. Kennedy). Her first one cleared the center field fence with ease while her second, also hit to center field, took a one-hopper off the plastic and found its way to the other side for four more.
Already 25-0 after two, the Pioneers scored once more in the 3rd and four more times in the 4th to go into the 5th with the 30-0 lead. Habernig tossed a clean 5th to end the game via run rule.
Utica (7-5, 0-0 Empire 8) will hit the road next to take on nationally-ranked No. 19 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for a pair on Wednesday, April 3. Game one is set to begin at 3 p.m.
