LOUDONVILLE, NY – Continuing a seven-game home stand, Siena Softball (22-21) used a balanced attack to take care of business Thursday afternoon. The Saints performed a doubleheader sweep of non-conference foe Hartford (13-27) with 7-1 and 8-2 victories at Siena Softball Field.
Siena 7, Hartford 1
Welcoming the Hawks to Loudonville for the second straight series, Siena shook off a 32-minute delay by getting on the board in the bottom of the first thanks to an RBI single from junior
Angelina Stile. Hartford evened the score by scoring on a wild pitch in the top of the third, but junior
Jocelyn Ulrich quickly gave the lead back to the home team for good with a solo home run to left field for her fourth of the season. Siena took a 3-1 lead after three innings as senior
Ava Fitzmaurice doubled down the left field line to score sophomore
Mikala Fletcher.
En-route to out-hitting their opponent, 8-4, the Saints poured on three more runs in the bottom of the fourth off an RBI single from Ulrich and a single to left from Fletcher that scored both Ulrich and sophomore
Isabella Pardo. A sacrifice fly from freshman
Emmalynn Skaff to send in Pardo. Fletcher went a perfect 3-3 from the plate with a pair of runs batted in to lead the offense.
The Saints moved things along defensively thanks to a career performance from freshman pitcher
Adriana Romano (5-5), who continues to rank inside the league's top-ten in strikeouts. The Barnegat, New Jersey native fired off a career-high 11 strikeouts while allowing just a single run on three hits over five innings, while Fitzmaurice followed with only one hit allowed over the final two innings of action.
Siena 8, Hartford 2
Completing their first sweep of the Hawks since 2016, the Saints didn't miss a beat in the nightcap, beginning with a three-run frame in the home half of the third. Ulrich came home on a fielding error, while junior
Emma McLaughlin doubled to right to score Fitzmaurice and Fletcher. Hartford got a pair of runs back in the top of the fifth off a fielder's choice and an RBI groundout, but could not overcome eight defensive errors that helped the Saints pull away in the latter innings.
Siena's offense kept following with junior
Shannon Bonewit and senior
Sabrina Vargas recording RBI singles in the bottom of the fifth, and Romano continuing her solid performance with an RBI double at the plate deep to right center to score Stile and Ulrich. Siena out-hit Hartford, 10-6, with nine different Saints recording a hit and Bonewit going 2-3 to steady the offense. Junior
Nicole Patille (7-7) picked up the win in the circle with three strikeouts over five innings, while classmate
Allison Speshyock struck out a pair of batters over the final two innings.
At 22-21 with eight regular season games to go, the Green and Golf have matched its best record since the 2016 season, and have tied the third highest win total in program history. Siena will wrap home action this weekend with a pair of pivotal home conference series. The Saints welcome MAAC foe Rider to the Capital Region on Saturday April, 30 at Noon and 2 PM, while Monmouth comes to town on Sunday, May 1 at Noon and 2 PM.
