ITHACA, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College softball team earned its third consecutive split on Friday as the Cardinals took the opening game of a non-conference double header at No. 10 Ithaca College before falling in the nightcap. With the results, the Cardinals closed out the day at 7-8 on the season.
FISHER 5, No. 10 ITHACA 3
After escaping a jam in the top of the first inning, the Bombers took a quick lead with one run on one hit and a Fisher error to hold a 1-0 lead heading into the top of the second.
Trailing by a run in the top of the third, Fisher put together a two-out rally as
Ashley Prince ripped a double to left before
Rachel Evans brought her home with a single to the opposite field as the Cardinals tied the game at one run apiece.
The game remained tied until the top of the fifth when Prince and Evans teamed up again to give the Cardinals a one-run edge. Prince led off the inning with a single to right and moved all the way to third after an Ithaca error. With a runner in scoring position, Evans smacked a seeing-eye single up the middle that scored Prince before the Bombers could retire the side.
Facing a one-run margin in the bottom of the fifth, Ithaca came up with back-to-back hits including a suicide squeeze to tie the game back up heading to the sixth.
With the score evened and the Cardinals coming to bat,
Abby Flakus came up big with a pinch-hit double to left to put a runner in scoring position.
Jessica Sardina kept the momentum going after singling to third, but the lead runner was caught in a run down before being tagged out as Sardina moved to second on the play. With two outs and a runner on the bases,
Julia Sortisio delivered a go-ahead RBI-single to left that made it 3-2 in the visitor's favor.
After setting the side down in order in the home half of the sixth, the Cardinals struck again in the top of the seventh as
Mary Claire Grosvenor mashed two-run double that plated both
Sarah Kubik and
Emily Trotman to give Fisher a 5-2 edge.
With just three outs left in play, Ithaca was able to chip away with one run, but left the tying runs on base as Trotman induced a flyout to right to end the threat and seal the win.
Trotman moved to 5-3 in the circle with the decision as the sophomore went the distance and allowed three runs on seven hits to go along with two strikeouts.
At the dish, five players had two hits including Sortisio, Prince, Evans, Sardina and Grosvenor.
No. 10 ITHACA 8, FISHER 0
Fisher found itself down by a run following the first inning of play before the Bombers tacked on another run in the bottom of the third.
In the fourth frame, Ithaca sent 12 hitters to the plate and produced four runs on two hits and a pair of errors to open up a 6-0 lead.
The Bombers finished the game in the bottom of the fifth with two runs including the game-winner on what marked the Cardinals' third error of the game.
Trotman took the ball to start the second game and was saddled with the loss to move her record to 5-4 overall. The righty tossed 3.2 innings and allowed six runs (two earned) on nine hits.
Allison Rogowski pitched an inning and allowed two runs (one earned) on one hit and three walks.
The Cardinals will return to their home field at 1 p.m. on Sunday when they host Elmira College in an Empire 8 doubleheader at the Softball Complex.
