This week the Colgate women’s softball team played four games at home against  rival Cornell before traveling to Easton, Pennsylvania for a Patriot League series against the Lafayette Leopards.

In the week’s opening game on Tuesday, the Raiders hosted Ivy League foe and rival Cornell. Cornell was able to strike first when sophomore Bridgette Rooney sent a solo shot over the wall in centerfield to take a 1-0 lead in the second. Colgate was able to get back in the bottom half of the inning when sophomore outfielder Jordan Miller sent a double into right field driving in junior middle infielder Meghan Romero and junior catcher Baillie Jorth for a 2-1 Raider lead. This score held until the fourth inning when Rooney struck again with another solo blow to even the game at 2-2. 

The Big Red took the lead later in the inning when first-year Brianna Straley scored to make it 3-2. Still trailing heading into the final inning, Colgate sophomore catcher Virginia Irby singled to right field and drove in Romero to tie the game at 3-3 and force an extra inning. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Jorth and Holly Geranen were both walked to put two on with two outs left. Facing a 1-0 pitch count, Miller smacked a long ball to left and over the fence to give the Raiders a 6-3 victory. This was Miller’s first homerun of the season and the nine of her career, as well as her forty-fifth RBI. 

On Saturday, the week continued for the Raiders as they played a double-header against league foe Lafayette. In the first game, the Leopards got out to an early 2-1 lead and kept it through the sixth. In the seventh a fielding error at third base allowed first-year utility player Christiana Cottrell to make it home and even the score. 

Two batters later Miller singled to right driving in Irby to give the Raiders the lead. With the next at-bat Jorth singled to right to drive in sophomore outfielder Blake Brackett and first-year outfielder Mia Guevarra to extend the lead. The lead quickly evaporated when Lafayette’s Brooke Wensel homered to tie it up and send the game to extra innings. The Raiders’ bats remained hot in extras as Guevarra doubled to drive in Cottrell and then scored on a sacrifice fly. Miller continued her impressive weekend as she sent a single shot over the wall to give the Raiders an 8-5 win.

In the second game,  Lafayette once again scored twice in the first, but this time Colgate could not bounce back. The Raiders were only able to muster two hits the entire game against Lafayette sophomore pitcher Alexis Randall as the Leopards won 3-0.

In the series finale on Sunday, the Raiders opened the scoring early when Irby scored off of a Holly Geranen single to center. They would maintain the lead until the third when Lafayette got hot and was able to put up five runs and take a 5-1 lead. The Raiders started to catch up in the fifth when Cottrell scored of a Romero single and Geranen singled at the next at bat scoring Romero and Irby to pull within 5-4. The Raiders would not be able to take back the lead; however, as Lafayette scored in the next inning to make it 6-4 and a late rally wasn’t enough to avoid a 6-5 defeat.

The Raiders finish the week at 8-25 and 3-6 in Patriot League play. They return on Saturday, April 21, when they will host Bucknell in a three-game series.

Contact Gideon Hamot at ghamot@colgate.edu.