LOUDONVILLE, NY – On a day which nearly blew away its inhabitants, Siena Softball Field produced a pair of gritty defensive battles between conference foes. Siena Softball (22-18, 7-9) dropped 1-0 and 3-1 decisions to Niagara (21-17, 12-5) to begin a three-game home series in Loudonville on Tuesday afternoon.

Niagara 1, Siena 0

With both teams trending in opposite directions entering the day, pitchers Maggie Hickingbottom for Niagara and Alissa Eimont for Siena dueled to a scoreless contest through five innings. Hickingbottom struck out 11 batters on the day, while her team stranded four batters defensively. Siena countered by leaving eight Niagara batters on in the first five innings, including the bases loaded in the fourth.

The visitors finally broke through in the top of the sixth by moving a leadoff single to second on a throwing error and to third on a sacrifice bunt before another error scored what would be the deciding run. Siena left a runner on first in the sixth and saw the final six batters go down in order.

Niagara held a 6-3 hits advantage, with senior Isabella Pardo collecting two of three knocks for the Green and Gold. Eimont dropped to 13-7 on the season with one strikeout and three walks in the complete game loss.

Niagara 3, Siena 1

The nightcap started similarly to the first game, with the game entering the fifth scoreless. Siena put runners on in the second and third but could not advance them, while both teams ended their leg of the second inning with double plays. The home team stranded the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth, only for Niagara to break through with an RBI single in the fifth.

 Siena again loaded the bases in the fifth, and brought freshman Chloe Cummings home on a throwing error to tie the game in the fifth. Nevertheless, Niagara ended the inning, and then retook the lead for good with a two-run homer to left in the sixth.

The Saints left two batters on and one in the seventh to drop the game despite holding a 7-6 hits advantage. Pardo again led the way offensively with three hits at the top of the order, while Nicole Patille (7-4) took the loss in the circle for the Saints with three strikeouts in five and one-third innings.

Siena will look to salvage a game in the three-game midweek series and end a five-game losing skid on Wednesday, April 23 at Noon in Loudonville.