MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. – Colgate pushed its winning streak to five straight with another doubleheader sweep on Saturday at Madeira Beach. The Raiders downed Manhattan 8-3 in the opener and held off Detroit Mercy 6-4 in the night cap.
Colgate improved to 5-3 on the season with the victories. Manhattan fell to 1-3 and Detroit Mercy moved to 5-8 after the losses.
Game 1: Colgate 8, Manhattan 3
Manhattan started the game with three straight base hits, the latest an RBI single to left field by Annie Moore to stake the Lady Jaspers to an early 1-0 lead.
Bella Crow, who started in the circle for the Raiders, settled in to nab three straight outs and strand two runners in scoring position with it still just a one-run game.
Colgate stormed back with seven runs on six hits to take the lead for good in the top of the third.
Rebecca Johnson beat out a fielder's choice as the first of eight straight batters to reach base.
Meghan Romero singled and
Morgan Farrah belted an RBI double to left center to get the Raiders on the board.
Virginia Irby cleared the bases with a double down the right field line, and then back-to-back homers from
Jordan Miller and
Nicole Rounsavill suddenly had the Raiders in the drivers seat.
Christiana Cottrell, who started the inning with a walk, scored
Baillie Jorth with a sacrifice fly to stretch Colgate's lead to 7-1 in the third.
Romero led off the top of the fourth with a double and later scored on a fielding error to give the Raiders an 8-1 advantage. Manhattan responded with two runs in the bottom of the fourth, but Crow finished the frame with a strikeout to keep the score 8-3.
Jessica Hay hurled three scoreless innings of relief and allowed just one hit with a walk and two strikeouts to shut the door as Colgate went on to win its fourth straight game, 8-3.
Game 2: Colgate 6, Detroit Mercy 4
Colgate jumped out to an early lead in the night cap with a run in the top of the first. Romero opened the contest with a single through the right side and came around to score on an RBI single to right by Irby to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead.
Kaitlyn Borruso was cruising in the circle to keep it a 1-0 game until the Raiders broke out the bats to the tune of five runs on six hits in the top of the fourth.
After Cottrell lined out for the second out of the inning, Colgate rattled off five straight two-out hits to pull away. Johnson drove in
Madison Aston with an RBI single before Romero plated two with an RBI double to right field. Farrah beat out an infield single to bring home another run, and back-to-back singles from Irby and Miller stretched Colgate's lead out to 6-0.
Detroit Mercy scored a pair of runs in each of the last two innings to cut the deficit to 6-4.
In the bottom of the seventh, Alyssa Lang singled up the middle, which would have brought the winning run to the plate, but Jen Lorenz was cut down at second base to end the game in the Raiders' favor, 6-4.
FROM THE SOURCE
• Colgate head coach
Marissa Lamison-Myers:
"Today was a full team effort. We love the momentum our offense is giving us and our pitching staff is keeping us in the games."
KEY RAIDER NOTES
• This is Colgate's longest winning streak since 2015, when the Raiders won nine in a row.
• Romero led Colgate with five hits, including three doubles, and four runs scored.
• Irby finished 3-for-7 with three RBI.
• Farrah also had three hits and nine Raiders recorded a base hit in the sweep.
• Miller homered for the second straight day and drove in three runs.
• The Raiders blasted two homers for the second consecutive day.
UP NEXT
• Colgate closes out its Madeira Beach trip with a single game against Drexel on Sunday.
• First pitch is slated for 9 a.m.
