Softball Remains Undefeated in League Play

The Colgate softball team continued its suc­cess this week, first splitting a two-game series with Albany, 7-1 and 8-0, respectively, and then sweeping Bucknell at home, 3-2 and 5-2 on Saturday and 9-0 and 5-4 on Sunday. After the four games, Colgate holds an undefeated record in League play with eight games under its belt in total.

The first tilt against Albany ended in a strong 7-1 finish for Colgate. Senior Nicole Siedhof was a key player in the game, batting in two home-runs and three RBIs in the game. Colgate got off to a great start, as sophomore Alana Dyson led off with a walk and scored when junior Jennifer Ortega hit a two-run homer. Colgate added to its lead in the third inning when Dyson and Ortega teamed up for a double steal to put runners on second and third with no outs. First-year Tera Vaughn then hit a double to bring both of her teammates home. Siedhof was the next batter up, and took Albany by surprise yet again when she hit her first home run, to push the score to 6-0.

Albany was not able to score until the bottom half of the third when Adrianna Walraven hit a double to bring home Diane MacDowell. The Raiders answered quickly with their final run in the fifth inning, when Siedhof yet again made contact for her second homer of the game, and fourth homer in three games.

First-year Rachel LeCoq, a pitcher who has greatly contributed to the team’s success this season, started on the mound and pitched five innings. She struck out five Danes and let only one run past to tally her ninth win. LeCoq also broke the Colgate strikeout record with 82 for the season so far.

In the second game, Albany was carried by Brittany MacFawn who threw a five-inning no hitter. The Danes scored one run in the first, but exploded in the third, batting 7 in and taking the win, 8-0.

Three days later, the Raiders took the field for their first home games of the year against the Bucknell Bison. In the first contest, Colgate rode a three-run first inning and held on for the 3-2 victory. First-year Tera Vaughn came up big for ‘Gate, hitting a two-run homer to start things off. Junior Stephanie Hartquist’s one-run homer followed her soon afterwards. Bucknell answered right back with a two-run bomb of its own in the top of the second and that was it for the scor­ing. From then on, the game became a pitcher’s duel as LeCoq and the Bison’s Alex MacLean combined to throw five and a half innings of shutout softball.

Hartquist remained dominant in the next game, hitting another homer, this time a three-runner in the fourth inning, which was backed up by a two-run one from sophomore Emmie Dolfi two innings later. Bucknell made things interesting in the fifth and sixth episodes, scoring off an error in the fifth and proceeding to add a run in the sixth while the bases were loaded. Colgate then retook control in the sixth.

In Sunday’s early game, the Raiders put forth one of their most dominant performances of the season. LeCoq was once again dominant on the mound, earning her second career blanking, permitting only six hits. The rest of the city backed up her effort in impressive of­fensive fashion. The Raiders scored nine runs, which were highlighted by Siedhof’s two home runs, both good for two runs in the third and sixth innings.

Several hours later, Colgate completed the weekend sweep with a nail-biting 5-4 triumph against the demoralized Bison. The Raiders scored once in the second and then benefitted from Hartquist’s third blast of the weekend in the fourth to take a 2-0 lead. Bucknell obtained its first lead of the weekend in the bottom of the fourth by scoring three runs. It did not last long, however, as Vaughn homered for the sec­ond time in the weekend to give her team a 5-3 lead. Both squads traded runs in the seventh as Colgate obtained its eighth straight conference victory to remain in first place.

The Raiders will next take the field at home this weekend in a pair of double-head­ers against Lehigh and will look to remain undefeated in Patriot League play.