March 27, 2012
Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
Siena softball jumped out to early leads in two games at Binghamton Tuesday, but squandered both advantages. The Saints dropped 5-4 and 9-6 decisions to the Bearcats in Central New York, wasting a prodigious day from junior Shannon Jones and extending the team's losing streak to five in the process.
The Saints (6-11) scored three runs in their first turn at bat in the opener. Jessika - Jo Sandrini belted a solo home run, and Nastasha Powlowsky and Samantha Ray both drove in runs with two outs in the frame. Siena added a run in the third with another solo shot, this one off the bat of Jones and one that proved to be just the beginning of a memorable day for the tri-captain.
However, the Bearcats went to work in the fifth. Binghamton scored four runs to tie the game in an inning that included four walks and just two hits. The Saints were held in check in the sixth and seventh, and Binghamton would win the game on a bases-loaded walk-off single in the final frame.
Siena seemed to bounce back quickly in the nightcap, with Jones hitting her second four-bagger of the day, a two-run shot that scored Sandrini from first. The Bearcats, though, clawed back again, this time with three runs in the first and four more in the second to assume a commanding 7-2 lead.
The Saints pecked away, scoring once in the third inning on an RBI double by Powlowsky. The red-hot Jones then struck again in the fourth, hitting her third home run of the afternoon and bringing Siena within a run. However, that was as close as the Green and Gold got, as Binghamton scored insurance runs in the fourth and fifth innings to put the game out of reach.
Jones drove in six of Siena's 10 runs on the day in going 4-for-8. She now has 22 RBI in 17 games this season, and is just two runs batted in away from becoming the third player in Siena softball history to drive in 100 runs in a career despite only being in her third season in Loudonville.
The Saints return to action on Thursday, when they take on crosstown rival UAlbany in a 2:30 p.m. doubleheader.
