The Ithaca softball team outscored Nazareth College 21–1 in a doubleheader yesterday at Kostrinsky Field. The Blue and Gold won both games with the mercy rule in play, as they shut out the Golden Flyers 12–0 in five innings in the first game and demoralized them 9–1 in six innings in the second game.
Four Bombers had multiple hits in Game 1. Senior second baseman Kait Dolan was responsible for more than half of the games runs, driving in four and scoring three. Junior shortstop Annmarie Forenza went 2-for-3 at the plate and scored three runs.
Senior pitcher and third baseman Allison Greaney pitched her fourth complete game shutout of the season, striking out three. She stands at 6–2 overall.
Greaney said she tried to throw harder when pitching to Nazareth freshman infielder Claire Campbell, who leads the Golden Flyers with a .362 batting average.
“Getting her out was a matter of turning up my velocity so she couldn’t get to the ball quick enough,” she said.
The Bombers relied more on the long ball as the wind picked up during the second game. Sophomore outfielder Jen Biondi went deep in the fourth and freshman designated player Jackie Branco hit a two-run shot the following inning to extend Ithaca’s lead to 7–0.
Senior designated player Kerry Barger said the team started to hit home runs instead of long foul balls when they leveled out their swings.
“Instead of getting under the bottom half of the ball, we were starting to even out and hit the middle and then just power through,” she said.
Branco said the team was looking to hit the ball on the ground until the fourth inning when Ithaca had a three-run lead. She said they wanted to keep the Nazareth infielders on their toes and not give them any chances to cut into the lead.
“Every time we’re playing in a close game we try and keep the ball on the ground, and today was no different,” she said. “To make the defense work we knew we had to hit the ball down and hard.”
Senior pitcher and outfielder Britt Lillie allowed just five hits in the victory and struck out seven batters. Her RBI single to left field in the sixth inning sealed the sweep.
The Bombers return to action 1 p.m. Wednesday in a doubleheader at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
