Troy, N.Y. – The College of Mount Saint Vincent Softball squad opened play in the Skyline Tournament on Friday afternoon with a 3-1 win over the top-seed Sage. Freshman
Brittany Lee (Newton, N.J.) was the lone Dolphin with more than one hit in the contest, while senior
Leeann Cerbone (Bronx, N.Y.) and sophomore
Kathryn Dalton (Northampton, Pa.) each drove in a run.
Mount Saint Vincent struck first on Friday with a run in the top of the second inning to pull in front 1-0.
Mackenzie Heizer (Vacaville, Calif.) walked and advanced to third on a
Kathleen Davis (Beacon, N.Y.) single and subsequent error by the center fielder. Following a
Rianna Laughridge (Vacaville, Calif.) walk that loaded the bases, Cerbone lifted a sacrifice fly to left field to push across the Dolphins first run of the game.
The top-seeded Gators would get the run back in the home half of the inning on a one out single off the bat of Courtney Laughhlin. Jessica Adams opened the stanza with a single, advancing to second on the throw and then to third on a wild pitch. With no one out, Laughlin shot a single to left center field to even the score at 1-1.
The game remained deadlocked at a run apiece until the Dolphins broke through with the final two tallies of the game in the top half of the fourth inning. Cerbone reached on a one out error and later advanced to second on a single from
Danielle Maffei (Valhalla, N.Y.). After a productive groundout from
Joann Guerra (Bronx, N.Y.) that advanced both runners, Dalton hit a groundball to shortstop that was misplayed, pushing across the eventual game winning run and an insurance tally.
Sage would be held without a base runner in its final three at-bats, as the Dolphins moved to 1-1 all-time in Skyline Conference Tournament play.
Lee finished the contest with two of the Mount's five hits, going 2-for-4 on the day. Cerbone scored a run and drove in a tally and also posted a sacrifice fly and a sacrifice bunt. Maffei, Davis and
Kierstyn Bourdeau (Cheshire, Conn.) all singled for the Dolphins with Maffei and Heizer scoring runs.
Laughlin produced two hits for the Gators in the game with Adams recording a base hit and a run scored. Kristen Beikirch finished up with a hit and a stolen base for Sage, who will take on the loser of Friday's second game between Mount Saint Mary and Farmingdale State.
Davis picked up the win in the circle for Mount Saint Vincent and moved to 11-3 on the season. She worked 4.0 innings, allowing one run on five base hits. She struck out three Gators and did not surrender a walk. Heizer came on to record her second save of the season with 3.0 scoreless innings of work. She did not allow a base runner in Sage's final three at-bats and struck out five. Katie Kovage suffered the loss after allowing one earned run and four hits.
Friday's win extends Mount Saint Vincent's winning streak to seven games and improves it to 28-5 overall on the season. The Dolphins will be back in action on Saturday morning when they square off with the winner of the Mount Saint Mary and Farmingdale State game scheduled for 3:00 p.m. Friday afternoon.
Game Notes: The Dolphins are now 2-1 against Sage in 2014…Friday's win evens Mount Saint Vincent's all-time record in the Skyline Conference Tournament to 1-1…The Dolphins only other action in the league tournament was a 13-0 loss to NYU-POLY on April 30, 2008.
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