Ortega Powers Colgate to Sweep of Hampton

Jesse McCarrick went the distance on a three-hitter in the season opener

Game 1 Box

Game 2 Box

HAMPTON, VA. (3/5/2010) – Courtney O'Connell (Palm Harbor, Fla.) picked up her first collegiate victory and Natalie Siedhof (Canton, Pa.) knocked in a pair of runs as Colgate downed Hampton 6-2 in the second game of a softball doubleheader, Friday afternoon. The Raiders prevailed 11-2 in a shortened five inning affair in their season opener.

Brittany Hanrahan (Frankfort, Ill.) and Natalie Siedhof tallied three hits a piece in the Raiders' 13-hit attack in the second game. Jennifer Ortega (Aberdeen, N.J.), Stephanie Hartquist (Homer, N.Y.) and Melissa Babb-Renta (Glenview, Ill.) each registered two-hit performances.

After Babb-Renta led off the top of the first with a triple to right, Ortega singled to left to give Raiders a 1-0 advantage. The hit stretched the sophomore's streak to eight consecutive games with at least one hit dating back to the end of the 2009 campaign.

The lead was upped to 2-0 in the top of the fifth as Babb-Renta delivered a two out single to right which brought home Amanda Zranchev (Budd Lake, N.J.) from second. The sophomore pinch ran for Natalie Siedhof, who opened the frame with a single to short.

The Raiders erupted for four runs in the sixth to put the game away. Ortega opened with a lead-off double. The sophomore stole third and advanced home on an error by the shortstop. Hartquist and Hanrahan then followed with back-to-back singles. After Nicole Siedhof sacrificed the runners to second and third with one out, Natalie Siedhof laced a two-run double to up the advantage to 5-0. Alana Dyson (Grovetown, Ga.) knocked in the final run with a single.

Making her mound debut for the Raiders, O'Connell fanned three, while scattering six hits over seven innings en route to the victory. The freshman's only miscue was serving up a one out two-run homer to Kelsei Saunders in the bottom of the sixth. After the Pirates got the lead-off runner on in the seventh, O'Connell induced a double play and then ended the game with a strikeout.

Ortega led the offensive charge in the opener going three for three with a homer, three RBI as well as posting three stolen bases. Colgate, which tallied seven hits in the win, scored three times in the third. After surrendering a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame, the Raiders put the game away with five in the fourth and three more in the fifth. The game was called early due to the mercy rule. Ortega's homer came in the three-run third.

Co-captain Jesse McCarrick (Oak Hill, Va.) went the distance for the win. The senior fanned three Pirate batters while surrendering only three hits.

Colgate returns to action Saturday morning as it plays St. Bonaventure in its opening game of the Norfolk State Spartan Classic. The clash with the Bonnies is set for a 9 a.m. start. The Raiders will immediately return and play Niagara at 11 a.m.

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