HAMILTON – Colgate softball opened home action with a pair of wins over Holy Cross on Saturday afternoon. The Raiders crushed the Crusaders 12-2 and 7-5 to take the series advantage.
The Raiders scored 13 runs between the sixth inning of game one and the first inning of game two to secure the doubleheader victory. Senior Adrienne Nardone scored a three-RBI walk-off homer in the bottom of the sixth in game one to highlight the day.
Pitchers Bailey Misken and Alexa Acker pitched complete games and struck out seven batters each to lead the defensive efforts.
GAME 1 | Colgate 12, Holy Cross 2
Colgate controlled the game from the start, scoring four runs between the second and fourth innings to start the offense. Catcher Quinn Livesay opened the second with a double and was eventually brought home to put a run on the board after Elizabeth Nitka, Alexis Romero, and Rachel Carney were all walked.
Livesay doubled again in the bottom of the third to push Nardone past home plate after she doubled and advanced off a bunt on the previous two-at bats to give the Raiders a 2-0 lead. Nardone went on to slam a two-RBI dinger in the fourth to extend the deficit to four.
The Crusader bats caught a spark in the top of the fifth, scoring two unearned runs to cut the lead in half. The Raiders shook off Holt Cross' runs as Jillian Herbst doubled to open the bottom half of the fifth. Nitka reached base on a fielder's choice, then advanced after Carney walked two at-bats later. Kara Fusco brought her fellow junior Nitka home with a single to right field to bump the lead to 5-3.
The Raiders went on to have an explosive seven-run sixth inning to secure the win for Misken. Taylor Ludwick and Claire Whalen each scored a run from walks to push the lead to five. Fusco hit her second single of the game to score Herbst and Nitka to lengthen the deficit to seven. Nardone put the nail in the coffin in the next at-bat with her second home run in the game, this time a three-RBI homer that put the score at its final tally of 12-2 as the mercy rule ended the game.
GAME 2 | Colgate 7, Holy Cross 5
Holy Cross took offense to how the first game ended, opening the second contest with two runs after hitting a double then a single. The two-run lead did not matter as Colgate answered with six runs in the bottom of the first to take the definitive lead and eventually the game.
As usual, Carney opened the inning with a walk to get on base. Fusco stepped up on the next at-bat, slamming a double to bring the senior home and put Colgate on the board. Nardone and Ludwick were the next Raiders to get on base right before Livesay singled to left field to score Fusco and give Colgate a one-run lead. Ludwick, Livesay, and Herbst scored three more runs to close the inning, with the Raiders ahead 6-2.
The Crusaders responded with a run in the second to cut the lead to three runs, but Fusco's bat was still hot in the bottom of the fourth, as she hit a single to score a security run to expand the deficit to 7-3.
Holy Cross tried to start a rally late in the game, scoring two runs between the fifth and sixth inning to trail by two, but three quick outs from Acker and the defense held the score at 7-5 to stifle any thoughts of a Crusader comeback.
UP NEXT
Colgate (13-18, 4-1 PL) looks to sweep the series against the Crusaders on Sunday, April 9. First pitch is scheduled for noon at the Eaton Street Softball Complex.
