Siena Softball (18-12) started off the final weekend of the 2021 Regular Season on a high note Saturday afternoon, performing a doubleheader sweep of MAAC foe Quinnipiac (7-23) to begin a four-game weekend series. The Saints took down the Bobcats, 10-4, before collecting a 5-3 victory to end the day.
 
Game 1: Siena 10, Quinnipiac 4
 
Continuing a stretch of eight games over the final seven days of regular season play, the Green and Gold went back and forth with the home team in the opening frames of game one before finally pulling ahead for good in the middle innings. After a single up the middle from junior Yamila Evans scored sophomore Antonia Alba in the top of the first, the Saints found themselves in a 2-1 after one thanks to a 2 RBI single down the right field line. Alba's RBI single to center field tied things up in the top of the second, but the lead went back to QU in the bottom of the frame on an RBI fielder's choice.
 
Starting what would prove to be a big afternoon, Siena sophomore Emma McLaughlin scored a pair on an RBI double in the top of the third that would prove to be the crooked inning for the visitors. Senior Isabelle DeChiaro scored two more on an RBI double in the top of the fourth and was able to come around herself on the play thanks to an error at second, while sending in one more run in the top of the fifth to push Siena's lead to 8-3. A two-run fifth inning was completed with an RBI double by Evans, while freshman Kiley Wong-Li countered a Bobcat RBI single in the bottom of the fifth with a one-bagger of her own in the seventh to make it 10-4.
 
Evans and sophomore Maritza Diaz finished the outing with three hits apiece, while DeChiaro raked in three RBI as the Saints tied a season high with 15 hits. Following one and two thirds innings of no-decision ball that featured a pair of strikeouts from sophomore pitcher Nicole Patille, classmate Allison Speshyock (7-3) led Siena along defensively, allowing just one earned run off two hits with a pair of strikeouts in three innings of work. Senior Taylor Rhinehart strike out three in two and one third innings of relief ball to end the game, while Quinnipiac's Julia Woeste (2-16) took the loss in three innings.
 
Game 2: Siena 5, Quinnipiac 3
 
The Green and Gold picked up where they left off in game two to win their third straight contest overall and their fourth in a row over the Bobcats. Following two innings of scoreless ball, junior Sabrina Vargas reached on an RBI fielder's choice in the top of the third that allowed sophomore Shannon Bonewit to score, while freshman Isabella Pardo reached on a sacrifice fly from DeChiaro. The home team would temporarily hold the lead in the middle innings, with a three-run frame putting them ahead, 3-1, after three thanks to a pair of RBI doubles. An RBI single from Evans and the game-winning 2 RBI one-bagger from McLaughlin made the difference in the top of the fifth, with Evans and DeChiaro hustling home on the latter to secure the 5-3 win.
 
McLaughlin went 3-4 with a pair of RBI to end the day, while graduate student pitcher Maddie McMahon (7-3) tossed the win in the circle over five innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out three. Rhinehart picked up her third save of the year over the final two frames, while Woeste (2-17) suffered a complete game loss with two strikeouts.
 
The Saints and the Bobcats will return to Quinnipiac softball Field in Hamden, Connecticut on Sunday, May 2, to round out the four-game weekend series with one more doubleheader beginning at 10 AM. The games will hold major playoff implications for Siena, who enter Sunday's action just one game out of second in the current league standings.