Kostrinsky Field saw a historic doubleheader on March 26 as the Ithaca College softball team mercy-ruled the Nazareth University Golden Flyers twice, winning by scores of 8–0 and 12–0 in five innings.

First Game:

The first game was a dominant performance from beginning to end on both sides of the diamond for the Bombers. First-year second baseman Elise Waddington went three for three, with two singles and a 5th-inning RBI double that was just a few feet away from clearing the wall in left-center field.

Along with Waddington’s perfect performance at the plate was sophomore catcher Haley Petrucci and first-year first baseman Sydney Miranda, as all three players recorded two RBIs a piece. 

However, the defining performance of the day across either game belongs to junior pitcher Anna Cornell, who had a performance for the history books. Across five innings pitched, Cornell allowed zero hits, gave up zero walks, struck out 13 of the 16 batters she faced and was an unfortunate error on a routine throw to first away from a perfect game.

Cornell said that falling just short of a perfect game served to give her a new goal to aim for in future performances.

“I think [perfection] is always something you strive for, but it’s very hard to get to at the point,” Cornell said. “It just gives me something to work toward. As the week goes on we’ve got a lot of games ahead, so I’m looking forward to that.”

Second Game:

The second game started a bit shaky, with Golden Flyers’ first-year catcher/infield Morgan Russo leading off the game with a double that was agonizingly close to being caught by senior right fielder Hudson Hassler. A sacrifice bunt from Nazareth first-year pitcher/outfield Avery Zembek moved Russo up to third, but the South Hill squad would escape the jam unscathed after first-year pitcher Taylor Brunn forced a ground ball between second and third base, which junior shortstop Sela Scheinman athletically scooped up before firing the ball to first for the third out of the inning. 

This game would have to wait until the bottom of the second inning for any runs, but they came plentifully once they began. Waddington led the inning off with a home run to left-center and the floodgates opened for the Bombers.

Following a walk for sophomore center fielder Kailen Winkelblech and singles from Miranda and sophomore catcher Taylor Andrews would lead to a 2–0 Bombers lead. Scheinman would then send a gap shot into left-center to clear the bases and give the Bombers a commanding 4–0 lead.

It certainly helped that on the pitching side, Brunn put up four innings of one-hit shutout softball, allowing just two walks and striking out five Golden Flyers’ batters.

Following the bottom of the third which saw Zembek throw the illustrious three-pitch inning, the Bombers’ bats came out flaming hot in response during the fourth. Eight hits, including home runs for Petrucci, junior third baseman Olivia Comolli and senior pitcher Ainsley Rogers ballooned the lead to an insurmountable 12–0. First-year pitcher Mady Rowell came into the game at the top of the fifth, struck out the side, and decisively closed out the game. 

Following the first inning, the Bombers scored 12 runs in just three innings of play allowing no hits, a feat that was not lost on head coach Kelly Robichaud ’16.

Robichaud kept it brief and said she was satisfied with the dominant performance the Bombers put on display against the Golden Flyers. 

“We made adjustments and I’m happy with what we got,” Robichaud said.

The 10–4 Bombers will now head northwest for a doubleheader against the 7–3 St. John’s Fisher Cardinals at 3 and 5 p.m. March 28 in Rochester, New York.