HAMILTON – Colgate Softball used timely hitting and dominant pitching to take both ends of Saturday's Senior Day doubleheader against Bucknell, beating the Bison 8-0 and 6-1, to secure the No. 2 seed in next week's Patriot League tournament.Â
Colgate entered the weekend ranked 13th nationally in home runs per game (1.65) and 17th in home runs (81). The Raiders hit two more long balls on Saturday with Marina Taveras and Kayla Martin powering the offense.Â
Analisa Raffaelli, Kayla Martin, and Alexa Acker all had three hits to lead the offense. Martin and Taveras each drove in four runs, while Acker picked up a pair of doubles and RBIs.Â
Kelcie McGraw and Maya Servedio combined for 11 strikeouts and just one earned run on five hits across 11 innings in the circle. Acker nabbed a pair of punchouts in one inning of relief.Â
Records Broken
Game 1 | Colgate 8, Bucknell 0 (5)
Colgate got the bats going early – and once again it was by way of the long ball. Taveras cashed in with a three-run homer in the bottom of the third, scoring Nora Megenity and Sydney Berg, who advanced to scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Raffaelli.Â
After a walk by Lily Haluska, Martin powered a two-run laser over the wall in right field. Berg scored Acker with a sacrifice fly in the fourth to stretch the lead to 6-0.Â
Two walks in the home half of the fifth set up the five-inning victory. Acker drove in Haluska with an RBI single to right before Berg triggered the run-rule triumph with a walk-off single to left. Mia Cascio crossed the plate to seal the 8-0 victory in Game 1.Â
McGraw, the reigning Patriot League Pitcher of the Week, continued her dominance in the circle. She fired a complete-game, one-hit shutout with eight strikeouts to improve to 14-10 on the season. A third-inning single to right field was Bucknell's lone hit in the contest.Â
Game 2 | Colgate 6, Bucknell 1
Colgate's offense once again sparked an early lead in Game 2. Martin lofted a two-run double down the left field line before scoring on an RBI knock from Tealla Rivera to open a 3-0 advantage in the bottom of the first.Â
The early offense provided plenty of run support for Servedio, who followed in McGraw with another strong performance in the circle. She limited Bucknell to just three hits through five innings, allowing the Raiders to pad their lead late in the contest.Â
Taveras extended the lead in the fifth inning with an RBI double to right-center before scoring on a sacrifice fly by Rivera. Acker later reached on a fielder's choice, scoring Haluska to open a 6-0 lead.Â
Bucknell scored its first run of the day when Barbara Jo Coppola scored Haley Speicher with a double in the sixth. Servedio escaped the inning without any further damage and gave way to her classmate, Acker, who tossed a perfect top of the seventh to seal the 6-1 victory.Â
Servedio secured the win, improving to 6-2 on the season, scattering four hits with three strikeouts over six innings.
UP NEXT
Colgate (26-24, 12-5 PL) concludes the regular season Sunday with Game 3 of the series against Bucknell. First pitch from Eaton Street Complex is set for 12 noon.Â
