Newburgh, NY- The Mount Saint Mary College Knights softball team and the Russell Sage College Gators battled it out in a thrilling doubleheader on Thursday afternoon. The Knights and Gators split the day's action, with the Knights taking a hard-fought 6-3 victory in game one before the Gators squad rallied for a 3-7 win in game two.
The Knights struck first in game one, erupting for three runs in the second inning.
Sophia Reed ripped a double to get things started, followed by a run-scoring single from
Grace MacDonald. The offensive onslaught continued as
Samantha Bendig blasted a two-run double to left field, taking the Knights to an early lead.
The Knights continued to swing away, adding insurance runs in the fourth, and fifth innings. Â
Kristen Tellier, in the midst of a hot streak, smacked an RBI triple to bring home
Natalie Walton, who had doubled earlier in the inning.
On the mound, MacDonald shined, tossing four scoreless innings en route to another win on the season.
Dana Donnelly provided strong relief, closing out the final three innings to secure the win.
The Gators in game two, jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. The Knights answered back in the bottom of the third.
Grace Terpening delivered a two-run double, and
Chloe Graham added an RBI double of her own to cut the Gators' lead to 5-3. The Gators added two more runs in the fourth inning, extending the lead to 7-3.
The Knights' offense threatened throughout the remaining innings but couldn't break through against the Gators defense.
Olivia Ferara pitched five strong innings for the Knights, giving up just two earned runs on four hits.
"Our team showed up to play today," said Head Coach
Samantha Howe. "We saw some great things in both games, and it was fantastic to see our offense come alive as a unit. We're already looking forward to celebrating our seniors and battling against St. Joe's Long Island this weekend."
The Knights will honor their seniors on Saturday, April 27th at 11am before taking on St. Joseph's University-Long Island in a doubleheader. Game one is scheduled to start at 12pm.
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