TROY, NY – The No. 2 seed RIT softball team (22-15) won its first Liberty League Tournament game, rallying from a 3-0 deficit to defeat fourth-seeded Skidmore College (19-23) 7-4 at Doris Robison Field on the campus of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Saturday afternoon. RIT advances to take on No. 3 seed Clarkson University (21-17) in a second elimination game Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m.
RIT, who opened the tournament by falling to Clarkson, 4-0 on Thursday, was facing elimination after falling behind 2-0 in the first inning and 3-0 in the bottom of the third. The Tigers would score four times in the fourth inning to take their first lead of the tournament and added three more in the seventh inning.
Alex Farner led off the fifth inning and moved to third on a double by
Erin Guinan (Geneva, NY/Geneva).
Sarah Thayer (Tully, NY/Fabius-Pompey) ripped a double over the left fielder's head to drive in both runners and cut the Skidmore lead to 3-2.
Tori Blaker (Corning, NY/Corning-Painted Post West) would triple to right field, driving in Thayer to tie the game.
Alexandria Lunderman (Manlius, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius) gave the Tigers their first lead, 4-3, with a run-scoring groundout to second base.
In the seventh inning, Lunderman led off with a single to right field and moved to second on a single through the left side by
Sam Killian (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder). Both Lunderman and pinch-runner
Francesca Cusato (Schenectady, NY/Guilderland) would move up on a wild pitch, setting up runners on second and third.
Olivia Doret (Fairfax, VA/Chantilly) would single home Lunderman to make it 5-3. Cusato would score on a wild pitch to give RIT a 6-3 lead, while Tia Aunskt lifted a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Doret to make it 7-3 Tigers.
Skidmore would threaten in the seventh inning, scoring once and getting the winning run to the plate before Doret made a diving stop on a shot up the middle by Heather Mak, flipping to Guinan to force the runner out at second and end the game.
Valentine tied a career-high by picking up her tenth win of the season, coming on in relief of start
Lauren Mahar (Rotterdam, NY/Schalmont) in the fourth. She fired 3 2/3 innings in relief, allowing two hits and a run, while walking three batters and striking out one. Mahar allowed six hits and three runs (two earned) in 3 1/3 innings, striking out four batters.
Guinan, Killian, Doret, and Farner had two hits apiece for the Tigers, as they out-hit Skidmore, 11-8.
Karly FIshkin was 2-for-4 with a first inning two-run home run for Skidmore. Kristina Foley, Emily Popp, and Jill Strileckis added two hits apiece. Amanda Carilli took the loss on the mound, allowing eight hits and four runs over 5 2/3 innings.
RIT won all three meetings between the two schools this season, out-scoring the Thoroughbreds, 18-5.
The winner of Saturday's second game will face top-seed Rensselaer in the championship Sunday, needing to win twice to claim the Liberty League title. Rensselaer advanced to the league championship round after defeating Clarkson, 9-0 in five innings in the winner's bracket game Saturday morning.
