WORCESTER, Mass. – Holy Cross softball sophomore outfielder
Ali Sniegocki drove in the go-ahead runs in the fourth inning of game two as the Crusaders managed a split of a Patriot League twin bill with Colgate falling 12-0 in game one before capturing game two, 3-2 Saturday afternoon during Alumnae Day on Freshman Field.
The split gave the Crusaders their 10th victory of the season and first conference win. Colgate fell to 18-25, 6-8 PL following the game two loss.
Sniegocki, the Crusaders leading hitter with a .311 average recorded her team-best fourth three hit performance of the season and third over the last six games. With runners at second and third with two down in the fourth frame she stroked a 0-2 offering into left field to bring in two runs to give the Crusaders a lead they would not relinquish.
GAME ONE: RAIDERS 12, CRUSADERS 0 (FINAL – 5 INN.)
STARTING IN THE CIRCLE:
- Bailey Misken: W, (9-11), complete game, shutout, one hit allowed, zero walks, three strikeouts
- Sophomore Sophia Roncone: L, (4-13), 3.2 innings pitched, six hits allowed, zero earned runs, two walks.
IN RELIEF:
- Freshman Avery Toddings: 1.1 innings pitched, two hits allowed, two earned runs, four walks.
STEPPING TO THE PLATE:
- Sophomore Anna Brait: 1-for-2, double.
- Jillian Herbst: 2-for-3, double, three RBI, two runs scored.
- Adrienne Nardone: 1-for-2, double, three RBI.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Brait went the other way for a double down the left field line for the opening hit of the contest, but was left at third base in the first inning.
- Colgate cracked the scoring column in the third singling up the middle for two runs. An opposite field double made it 3-0 in favor of the Raiders through three and a half.
- The guests strung together seven runs in the top of the fourth off four Crusader fielding miscues to lead 10-0 and added two in the fifth for the 12-0 edge.
GAME TWO: CRUSADERS 3, RAIDERS 2 (FINAL)
STARTING IN THE CIRCLE:
- Senior Megan Yurchick: W, (5-14), 6.2 innings pitched, nine hits allowed, two earned runs, three walks, strikeout.
- Maya Serviedo: 3.1 innings pitched, five hits allowed, three earned runs, walk.
IN RELIEF:
- Sophia Roncone: S, (3) 0.1 innings pitched.
- Bailey Misken: L, (9-12), 2.2 innings pitched, three hits allowed, walk, strikeout.
STEPPING TO THE PLATE:
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Both teams loaded the bases early and got out of trouble. Pietrzak made an impressive diving stop at the hot corner and threw across the field from both knees for the third and final out of the top of the first which stranded the bases loaded.
- Colgate crossed the plate first in the top of the third via a double into the left center field gap. A run came across to score, but a Sniegocki to Brait to senior catcher Morgan Jensen relay cut a runner down at home to perseve the 1-0 deficit.
- Holy Cross gained the edge in the fourth inning. Thibault singled to short and advanced on two wild pitches, one allowed her to score to level the game at 1-1. Pietrzak walked and sophomore Abbie Gold was hit by a pitch. Jensen sacrificed her teammates over a base setting up Sniegocki to clear the bases with the single and more importantly give the Crusaders a 3-1 advantage.
- The Raiders threatened in the seventh with two outs getting a single and a double to pull within one, 3-2. With the game tying run on second base, Roncone replaced Yurchick in the circle and needed one pitch for the final out for her third save of the season.
DUE UP:
- Holy Cross hits Freshman Field tomorrow for the rubber match of the series and an NFCA Strikeout Cancer game against Colgate.
- First pitch is set for noon.
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