NORFOLK, Va. – Colgate Softball closed out the Battle at the Bay with a doubleheader sweep over Central Connecticut State and Norfolk State to win its fourth straight game on Sunday afternoon. The Raiders topped the Blue Devils 9-3, then downed the Spartans 2-1 in the final game of the weekend.
Rachel Carney,
Claire Whalen, and
Cate Murray led the offense with two runs apiece in today's doubleheader. Carney and Whalen split their runs between both games, while freshman Murray recorded her first multi-hit game against Central Connecticut.
Pitcher
Bailey Misken pitched her third straight complete game after letting up only one run off five hits and striking out five batters against Norfolk State.
GAME 1 | Colgate 9, Central Connecticut 3
After both teams started the first inning with three quick outs, the Raider bats caught a spark in the bottom of the second, putting seven runs on the board that would create a deficit too deep for Central Connecticut to overcome.
Sophomore
Quinn Livesay opened the scoring with a two-run homer down the left field line. Livesay also brought home
Steph Jacoby, who reached first from a walk to put Colgate ahead 2-0 with one out on the board.
Taylor Ludwick and
Elizabeth Nitka found themselves on first and second in the next two at-bats after Ludwick walked and Nitka was hit by a pitch. Murray then singled to left field to load the bases for the next Raider bat.
Senior Carney went on to bring home Ludwick after a single to the right to get on base. Colgate would get its second out of the inning on the next at-bat after a fielder's choice when Nitka tried to cross home plate, but
Kara Fusco made up for the out with a 3 RBI double that brought home Murray, Carney, and
Jillian Herbst to bump the Raiders' lead to 6-0.
Fusco scored two at-bats later thanks to Jacoby, who made her second appearance in the inning to extend the deficit to 7-0 to close out the second.
The Blue Devils did not take the seven Raider runs lightly and retaliated with two runs in the top of the third to cut the lead to five. Colgate shook off the runs and tacked on another after Murray scored her second of the game after Herbst doubled to center field to bump the lead to 8-2 to end the third.
Central Connecticut opened the fourth with a leadoff homer to left field to add its third and final run to the board. Luckily for the Raiders,
Mia Edwards dished out three quick outs before the Blue Devils could produce any other offense.
The final run in the game came from the bottom of the fifth, with Ludwick starting the inning with a single. Sophomore Whalen made an appearance to pinch run for Ludwick and eventually scored after back-to-back sac hits from Nitka and Murray to push the score to its final tally of 9-3.
NOTE
- The Raider pitching put on a show in the win, with freshman Alexa Acker only allowing two runs off four hits, while Edwards struck out five batters to go along with one run off two hits.
GAME 2 | Colgate 2, Norfolk State 1
Similar to the day's first game, the Raiders got on the board first, this time during the opening inning. Carney opened the inning with a 3-1 walk before stealing second base. The Hatboro, Pa., native found herself on third after a sac bunt from sophomore Herbst. Carney finally crossed the threshold after a single to third base from Nardone, who was eventually left stranded.
Norfolk State opened the bottom of the first with two Spartans quickly reaching bases, but three quick outs from the Colgate defense, including a strikeout from Misken, left the runners on base.
The Bats would stay quiet for the next four innings, with a few Raiders and Spartans being stranded after stellar showings from the bump.
The final Raider run of the day came during the top of the fifth for Colgate. Whalen scored in a similar fashion as her run earlier in the day, coming in to pinch run for Ludwick and then stealing second. Herbst pushed Whalen past home plate after a double to left field to put Colgate ahead 2-0.
The Spartans scored their first and only run in the bottom of the fifth after a two-out single to left field, but fortunately for the Raiders, the defense got the last out of the fifth to put an end to Norfolk State's offense.
Misken handled the final two innings with ease, only allowing one more Spartan on base in the sixth and getting three quick strikeouts in the seventh to hold the final score at 2-1.
UP NEXT
Colgate (6-7) heads to Tallahassee, Fla., on Friday, March 3, to open the Dugout Club Classic. The Raiders take on Georgia Southern at 10 a.m., then host Florida State at 4:45 p.m.
