MADEIRA BEACH, FL – Siena Softball continued a seven-game swing at The Spring Games in Madeira Beach, Florida by facing off with a pair of in-state rivals. The Saints (6-5) shutout sister school St. Bonaventure, 7-0, before dropping a 5-3 affair with Cornell on Saturday.
Siena 7, St. Bonaventure 0
Facing off against the Bonnies for the first time since 2001, Siena continued to ride solid pitching from redshirt-sophomore
Alissa Eimont into middle innings, with the offense kicking in thereafter. After launching a solo home run on Friday, junior
Emmalynn Skaff sent in a pair of runs with a 2 RBI double to left center in the third, while freshman
Chloe Cummings scored two more on a similar play in the fourth.
Redshirt-senior
Diana Parker joined in on the scoring with a single up the middle to plate a pair in the fifth, while junior
McKenzie Swinson came in on a passed ball in the sixth. Siena held a 9-2 hits advantage while recording its second shutout of the year, with senior
Mikala Fletcher going 3-4 with two runs scored and Parker and Cummings enjoying multi-hit days. Eimont (4-1) struck out six in five shutout innings with just one hit allowed, while freshman
Hailey Francois allowed just one more hit in a pair of relief innings.
Cornell 5, Siena 3
The Saints then entered an early offensive battle in its second matchup with an Ivy League foe in as many days, with Cornell using a single and a sacrifice fly to get on the board in the top of the first. The designated home team countered with an RBI double from junior
Madi Silber that scored Swinson in the home half of the inning, but fell further behind following a two-run home run to left in the top of the third.
Cummings proved herself to be a useful utility player by striking out four in five relief innings in the circle, while Siena got two runs back off an
Ashley Giampolo RBI single in the third and an RBI ground out from Skaff in the fourth. Cornell used an RBI double to add insurance in the sixth, and retired ten of the final 11 batters in order defensively.
The Big Red held an 8-6 hits advantage, with senior
Isabella Pardo recording a multi-hit outing for the Saints. Freshman pitcher
Gracie Goewey (1-4) took the loss with two innings in the circle, allowing four earned runs and striking out one.
Siena will conclude weekend action at The Spring Games on Sunday, February 25 against Middle Tennessee State at 12:30 PM.
