DELAND, Fla. — Adrienne Nardone racked up four total RBIs,
Jillian Herbst logged three hits, and
Kiley Shelton went a combined three-for-five when Colgate defeated Bethune-Cookman, 3-2, and fell to Stetson, 4-3, on Saturday afternoon.
"Overall it was a good day," head coach Marissa Lamison-Myers said. "It was a tough way to end but I'm proud of the fight back in the sixth inning. Adrienne was a rock at the plate, but if you ask her, she was just doing her job. It's nice to see us starting combo hits and pitching well.'
Game 1 - Colgate 3, Bethune-Cookman 2
Making her first start of the season, sophomore Alexa Acker was off to a shaky start after a four-pitch walk and a double down the right field line put the first two Wildcats on base. She forced the next batter into a pop-out, but after walking the cleanup hitter, Acker was in a bases-loaded jam with only one out.
Calm, cool and collected, the sophomore comfortably pitched her way out of the dangerous situation, forcing consecutive ground balls to keep the game scoreless.
Fifth-year shortstop Rachel Carney wasted no time responding for the Raiders in the bottom of the inning. She quickly put herself on base with a walk before stealing second and advancing to third when Kiley Shelton was hit by a pitch. Her five stolen bases now rank first in the Patriot League.
Kara Fusco picked up an RBI in the next at-bat, sending a hard-hit grounder to the shortstop who had no play at the plate.
Still in the bottom of the first with the bases loaded, Nora Megenitity drew a walk to score Shelton and tack on the Raiders' second run of the opening frame.
Acker rebounded with a one-two-three second inning before dialing into a strong rhythm, allowing only one hit through the next three innings. She finished the day conceding only three hits, no earned runs, and two strikeouts through seven innings of work.
Despite the standout performance in the circle, Bethune-Cookman was able to knot the game up with two fielding errors from Colgate in the top of the fourth.
The score remained deadlocked until the bottom of the seventh when Shelton poked a single out to center field. She advanced to second when Fusco was hit by a pitch to bring Adrienne Nardone to the plate with no outs.
With the game on the line, Nardone barreled up the first pitch she saw, doubling into the left field gap to score Shelton and give the Raiders their second win of the season.
Game 2 - Colgate 3, Stetson 4
Jillian Herbst swung the bat early and often in game two, earning the first of her three hits to open the game for the Raiders. After Colgate stranded Herbst on first, Stetson opened the scoring in the bottom of the inning with a sacrifice bunt.
Both teams went hitless in the second with Bailey Misken retiring the Hatters in order, including one of her four strikeouts on the evening.
Herbst singled again in the third, but aggressive baserunning from the Raiders backfired when Niamh Dougherty was thrown out at home after trying to score from first.
The Hatters extended their lead to three in the fifth inning when they rang Misken up for three hits, but the Raiders did not throw in the towel early.
Nardone showed up in the clutch again for the Raiders with a stand-up triple to clear the bases, scoring Herbst, Cate Murray, and Kiley Shelton, who hit .600 across Colgate's two Friday matchups.
Reliever Maya Servidio walked the first Hatter batter of the seventh inning who advanced to third on a single to right field. With the winning run 60 feet away, Stetson scored the game-winner on an RBI sacrifice bunt to drop Colgate to 2-5 on the season.
UP NEXT
The Raiders are back in action Saturday at 8 a.m. for a rematch with Bethune-Cookman at 8 a.m. before taking on Creighton at 12:30 p.m.
