WORCESTER, Mass. – Colgate Softball walloped four more home runs in a doubleheader split at Holy Cross on Sunday, beating the Crusaders 14-0 before dropping the finale, 5-4.
Colgate's seven-game winning streak came to an end with the loss in Game 2, snapping the Raiders' best run since they posted nine consecutive wins in 2015. Colgate's 5-0 start to Patriot League play marked its best since opening the 2012 season 7-0.
Nora Megenity went 5-for-8 with a home run and four RBIs in the doubleheader, while Marina Taveras drove in five runs, including a grand slam in Game 1, to lead the Raiders offensively. Lily Haluska also had three hits and three RBIs as Colgate tallied 18 hits on the day.
Kelcie McGraw tossed Colgate's first shutout of the season, striking out four batters while scattering four hits over five scoreless frames in the opener.
Game 1 | Colgate 14, Holy Cross 0 (5)
Colgate scored early and often in Game 1. Haluska drilled a solo rocket in the top of the second before Megenity doubled the lead with a two-run jack in the third. Taveras' grand slam capped a six-run fourth and quickly ballooned the lead to 9-0.
The Raiders strung five more runs on four hits with the help of one error and a walk in the top of the fifth. Tealla Rivera and Sydney Berg roped back-to-back RBI doubles before run-scoring singles from Megenity and Haluska stretched Colgate's lead to 14-0.
McGraw finished off Colgate's first shutout of the season with a perfect bottom of the fifth. She tossed five scoreless innings, scattering four hits with four strikeouts to improve to 8-7 on the season.
Game 2 | Holy Cross 5, Colgate 4
Colgate's bats stayed hot and built a 4-2 lead on a two-run blast by Izzy Ervin-Agudelo that slammed off the scoreboard in left field in the top of the fourth. Taveras and Haluska also drove in early runs for the Raiders, who unfortunately dipped into a cold spell after the early lead.
Holy Cross tied the game on a two-run home run by Emily McCandless in the bottom of the fourth. Ali Sniegocki gave the home team three unanswered runs – and its first lead of the day, 5-4 – with an RBI knock in the bottom of the fifth.
Haluska gave the Raiders life with a two-out single in the top of the seventh, but Holy Cross pitcher Sophia Roncone finished off the game with a strikeout to seal the 5-4 decision.
UP NEXT
Colgate (16-16, 5-1 PL) heads to Vestal, N.Y., for a doubleheader against Binghamton starting at 3 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon.
