ROCHESTER, NY – A dominant pitching performance by junior
Sierra Valentine (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena) propelled the RIT softball team (11-13, 4-4 Liberty League) to a doubleheader split against Skidmore College (10-20, 2-4 Liberty League) on a sunny, warm Sunday afternoon at Tiger Stadium. Valentine and the Tigers took game one, 1-0, while Skidmore hit two home runs in game two to win 5-2.
In the opener, Valentine was nothing short of spectacular, allowing just two base runners all game en route to her seventh win and first shutout of the season. She did not walk a batter and struck out nine in the complete-game 73 pitch effort. Valentine lowered her earned run average to 3.04 and struck out her 85th batter of the season.
Scoreless in the bottom of the fourth inning, RIT would generate all the offense it needed, as
Danielle Hotz (Drexel Hill, PA/Upper Darby) led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from
Tori Blaker (Corning, NY/Corning-Painted Post West).
Amanda Cook (Royal Palm Beach, FL/Suncoast) would single up the middle, sending Hotz to third. After Cook stole second,
Sam Killian (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) would rip a hard single to center field, scoring Hotz with the game's only run.
Skidmore would make it interesting in the top of the seventh inning, as Karly Fishkin ripped a leadoff double to the gap in left center field. Lauren Fortunato flew out to right field, advancing Fishkin to third with one out. Needing a big out, Valentine would get Kristina Foley to hit a high foul pop by the Skidmore dugout that first baseman
Alexandria Lunderman (Manlius, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius) would corral with just enough room for the second out. Valentine would get Rochelle Brown would ground out to short to end the game.
Killian was 2-for-3 with a double for the Tigers.
Skidmore starting pitcher Amanda Carilli was very strong, allowing six hits and a run, while walking one batter and striking out seven in a complete-game effort. She would also pitch well in game two, allowing seven hits and two runs without a walk in seven innings to earn her eighth win of the year.
In game two, Karly Fishkin and Mary Farrington hit home runs to put Skidmore up 3-0. Carly Fishkin would give the Thoroughbreds a 5-0 lead in the fifth on a sinking two-run single with the bases loaded.
RIT would claw back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth on run scoring singles from
Emily Lazarus (Whitehall, PA/Allentown Catholic) and
Sarah Thayer (Tully, NY/Fabius-Pompey), but it would not be enough.
Lazarus was 2-for-3 with a run scored and run batted in for the Tigers. On the mound,
Lauren Mahar (Rotterdam, NY/Schalmont) took the loss, allowing eight hits and five runs (all earned), while striking out four batters.
The Tigers lead the all-time series between the two schools, 17-11. Last season, the two teams split a pair of games at Skidmore.
RIT enjoyed a tremendous weekend against Liberty League foes. Yesterday, the Tigers picked up a pair of wins in their final at-bats against Clarkson, winning 4-3 in game one, and 2-1 in game two. The Tigers end the weekend third in the Liberty League standings.
RIT is back in action on Wednesday with a doubleheader at SUNY Geneseo that gets underway at 3 p.m.
