Duel in the Dome Ends in a Draw for Colgate

 

 

The Colgate women’s softball team split its weekend games at the Duel at the Dome at Syracuse University with a loss on Friday against Syracuse, 6-0, and a 5-4 win on Saturday against Canisius.

Syracuse came out to a commanding lead on Friday when the team scored four runs in the first inning. One came from a sac fly that marked the first ever run in the Dome, while the other three run-ners made it to the plate after a three-run homer by an Orange batter.

Sophomore Rachel LeCoq, the Raiders’ pitcher, was able to focus after the hectic first inning and only allowed one more hit over the next two innings. At that point, the Orange burst ahead again after a field-ing error by Colgate brought two more runs home in the fourth inning.

Sophomore Tera Vaughn was the sole Raider to record a hit with two singles under her belt, but it was not enough. Three Syracuse pitchers combined to tally 11 strikeouts in six innings throughout the game.

The Raiders were able to pick up and brush off for the second game of the week-end against Canisius. Senior Stephanie Hartquist was a key player in the game as she was able to clear the bases in the bot-tom of the eighth inning to pull Colgate above its opponent.

Colgate was the first to round the bases when a pair of runs in the second inning were tallied from an impressive homer by junior Natalie Siedhof. The Raiders re-mained on top until the Griffins were able to pull off two runs, one in the fifth and a second in the seventh. The tie forced the game into extra innings.

Canisius scored two runs in the top of the eighth inning to take a 4-2 lead over the Raiders. Colgate refused to let the game slip, however, and crept up on the Griffins’ lead. Senior Jennifer Ortega came out strong in the eighth inning with a double that brought Vaughn home to score. Junior Emmie Dolfi followed suit as she reached on a fielder’s choice to put runners on first and third. Harquist fin-ished the job when she hit a fly ball to left field that was dropped by Michelle Del Prince. Ortega and first-year Kate Zucker rounded the bases to score the winning runs.

Colgate will be back in action to begin Patriot League play with a double-header at Bucknell this Saturday. The first game will begin at noon.

Contact Emma Barge at [email protected]