Women’s softball team swung for victory
Photo courtesy of Geneseoknights.com
This past Saturday, Apr. 4, the Knights softball team hit the road and traveled to Alfred State College to play a doubleheader, and it is safe to say the games did not disappoint. While in Alfred, the team ended with a 1-1 day. The Knights achieved a victory of 12-11 in the first game, a very close and intense battle. The game was also highlighted by the impeccable achievement of junior Brooke Fraas, who passed 150 career hits. This put her in the ninth spot of all time hits in Geneseo history.
Entering the first inning, the Knights went scoreless but allowed the opposing team to score a run. However, the team did not allow this feat to stop them. They proceeded to score five runs to match Alfred’s one, emerging victorious in the second inning. Leading this impressive response was senior Gabriella Smith, who started the top of the second inning off with a run batted in (RBI), which brought her to first. Following their teammate's gate-opener, juniors Gabriella Petroski, Ray Schumacher, Lauren Babich, and Fraas all scored RBIs, thus achieving the 5-1 lead into the bottom of the second inning. To combat the Knights’ lead, Alfred managed to score two runs of their own.
Entering the top of the third, the score was 5-1, however that was quickly changed by junior Bella Nadzan, the only scorer on the Knights in the inning, who managed to score on a sacrifice fly. Heading into the bottom of the inning, Alfred was able to regain some ground by scoring two, making the score 6-3.
The fourth inning was another display of talent by the Knights. This was achieved by Schumacher and Smith, who both displayed another impeccable performance by hitting an RBI single and an RBI double to center field, respectively. Entering the bottom of the fourth, Alfred remained neck and neck with the Knights by putting up another six runs, making the score at the bottom of the inning 9-8.
It had been a very close game this far, and it remained the same in the fifth inning, making it scoreless. The sixth inning, however, completely changed the game. A game-changing play was provided by junior Lauren Bieniek, who hit an impeccable RBI double, allowing two runners to reach home—freshman Molly Griffin and junior Babich. This performance also allowed the Knights to regain the lead. Again, Alfred would not relent in their pursuit and tied the score at 10-10 in the bottom of the sixth.
Heading into the final inning with the score tied, the Knights needed something special in order to emerge victorious from this game, and that is exactly what they got. Schumacher managed to attain an RBI single to make the score 11-10, and even more spectacularly, Babich managed to make it to first on an error; this allowed Schumacher to score, making the score 12-10.
Game one was an extreme display of determination and perseverance. Both teams did not give up despite the massive score differences throughout the innings. However, the Knights proved to outshine Alfred’s control of the game by ending up with the victory.
In game two, the Knights battled hard, remaining scoreless for the first and second innings. They continued to fight throughout the game into the seventh inning, where they had the lead. However, Alfred was able to attain a victory of 4-3.
The Knight’s raw perseverance in game one was an impressive sight. If the Knights are able to maintain that level of determination in their next double-header at Geneseo on Apr. 8, when they play RIT, there is no doubt that the game will result in the same way game one did—in a dominating victory.