CLERMONT, Fla.— The Allegheny College softball team split a pair of games in sunny Florida Friday (March 22).
In the first game of the day, the Gators defeated Farmingdale State 6-4 before falling to Ramapo 14-5 in game two.
Game One – Allegheny 6, Farmingdale State 4
Kelly Lafferty led off the game with a single to left field. Paige ZIggas moved her over on a sac bunt before
Samantha Valera hit a single to right field. A
Hayley Behr groundout brought Lafferty home for the game's first run.
The Rams made up the run in the bottom of the frame. After a lead-off walk, a two-out single to shallow center brought the runner around to tie the game at one.
Similar to the first,
Jessica Valerino led off the second with a single to left field.
Joplin Osgood followed up with a single through the left side to move Valerino to scoring position. However, the Rams made it out of the inning unscathed.
Valera was hit by a pitch in the third inning. With two strikes, Behr belted a homerun over the left center wall to put the Gators in front 3-1. The homerun was the fourth of the season for Behr.
The Rams threatened in the bottom of the third with a lead-off triple, but
Tori Vradenburg got out of the situation, ending the inning with a strikeout to preserve the lead.
Osgood led off the fourth with her second single of the game. After she stole second, Lyndsey Crovak hit a double down the left field line, scoring Osgood to make it 4-1.
Farmingdale State took advantage of a pair of miscues in the fourth as they scored a run to cut the Allegheny advantage to 4-2.
Ziggas led-of the fourth with a single through the left side, then stole second. Valera followed up with a single through the right side of the infield to bring Ziggas around for the run. After Valera moved to third, Valerino laid down a sac bunt to bring her home, making it 6-2 in favor of the Gators.
The Rams put up a fight in the bottom of the seventh, scoring a pair of runs on two hits, but Vradenburg recorded the last out with a strikeout swinging to seal the Gators win.
Vradenburg went the distance in the win. She allowed three earned runs while striking out two.
Lafferty, Ziggas, Valera and Osgood all had two hits. Valera added two runs and one batted in. Behr led the Gators with three RBI, including her two-run homerun.
Game Two – Ramapo 14, Allegheny 5
Ramapo led off the game with a single. After moving up on a groundout, a second Roadrunner single brought the game's first run across the plate.
The Gators matched the run in the bottom of the frame. With Ziggas at third after she singled. Behr brought her home to tie the game. A throwing error on the play allowed Valera to score as well as the Gators took the lead.
With a runner on second in the top of the second, Olivia Wang homered to left field to put Ramapo back in front, 3-2.
Once again, the Gators had an answer in the bottom of the frame. Valerino led off with a single.
Delaney Harrison-Peters came in to pinch run for her. She moved to second on a
Jessica Gordon sac bunt, and third on a wild pitch. Osgood brought her home on a single to center field, tying the game at three.
The tied score was short lived as Ramapo had a big inning in the third. The Roadrunners produced five hits and took advantage of a Gator error to score six runs, taking a 9-3 lead.
After a couple of scoreless innings, the Roadrunners scored three runs on three hits in the top of the fifth to push the lead to 12-3.
Lafferty earned a walk to start the bottom of the fifth. After she stole second, Crovak came in to run for her. A Valera hit put Crovak to third. Behr then doubled, scoring both runners to cut the lead to 12-5.
Ramapo tacked on two more runs in the top of the seventh to make it 14-5 heading into the final frame.
Behr had her second double in the bottom of the seventh, but the Gators left two runners stranded as they fell 14-5.
For the game, Behr had three RBI on two doubles. Valera scored a pair of runs.
The Gators conclude their spring break trip Saturday (March 23) as they play Plattsburgh State and Manchester.
