BUFFALO, NY – The RIT softball team (8-14) dropped a pair of one-run games at Buffalo State College (12-10) on Wednesday afternoon. The Bengals won game one, 7-6 and took game two, 2-1.
In game one, RIT raced out to a 6-1 lead before Buffalo State rallied.
Raquel Estrada (Middletown, NY/Middletown) and
Erin Guinan (Geneva, NY/Geneva) hit back-to-back run scoring singles in the first inning to give RIT a 2-0 lead. After Buffalo State scored a run in the third inning to cut the RIT lead in half, the Tigers responded with four runs in the top of the fourth to go up 6-1.
Danielle Hotz (Drexel Hill, PA/Upper Darby) had the big in the fourth, a two-run double that scored
Hannah Trumble (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Mendon) and
Brianna Bilich (Penryn, CA/Del Oro).
Buffalo State would rally with three runs in the fourth and three in the sixth inning to prevail. RIT would threaten in the seventh as Guinan and Estrada were on second and third, respectively, with one out, but would be stranded.
RIT out-hit Buffalo State, 8-6. Bilich went 2-for-2 with a run scored and run batted in, while Estrada and Guinan were both 2-for-4 with a RBI. Hotz drove in a pair of runs.
Torie Adler (West Chester, PA/B. Reed Henderson) got the start on the mound, allowing two hits and four runs (three earned) over 3 2/3 innings.
Melissa Gould (Harleysville, PA/Souderton Area) came on in relief and took the loss, allowing three unearned runs.
Oriana Castello doubled and drove in four runs for Buffalo State. Sydney McIntosh and Taylor Benton had two hits apiece.
Game two would remain scoreless until Buffalo State pushed across two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. RIT would answer with a run in the sixth, as
Jennifer Vickery (Gloversville, NY/Gloversville) doubled and scored on a single by Guinan to cut the lead in half. That would be as close as the Tigers would get, as Buffalo State finished off the sweep.
Vickery and
Sarah Thayer (Tully, NY/Fabius-Pompey) had two hits apiece for the Tigers in game two. Adler took the loss, allowing seven hits and two runs in 4 1/3 innings.
Abcde Cortinas (San Antonio, TX/Highlands) came on and fired 1 2/3 innings of scoreless, hitless relief.
Castello was 2-for-3 with a triple and RBI to lead the Bengals, while Benton drove in the other run. Marissa Hayes scattered nine hits and struck out five batters for the complete-game win.
RIT is back in action on Saturday and Sunday with a pair of road doubleheaders against Liberty League foes. RIT takes on Union College at 1 p.m. Saturday and the University of Rochester at 1 p.m. Sunday.
