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Clarkson softball goes 1-for-3 on lengthy day of games

Posted 3/22/18

Clermont, FL – Making up for a rainout on Tuesday, the Clarkson University Softball team played 21 innings on Wednesday, losing its opener, winning game two, and then dropping the third contest in …

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Clarkson softball goes 1-for-3 on lengthy day of games

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Clermont, FL – Making up for a rainout on Tuesday, the Clarkson University Softball team played 21 innings on Wednesday, losing its opener, winning game two, and then dropping the third contest in a long day of competition.

Clarkson's first game came against Wesleyan University, with the Knights dropping a 6-5 decision. The Knights then faced Farmingdale State College in its early afternoon game, winning 3-1 in a pitchers' duel. The third contest of the day was a game that was picked up late last night, with the Knights falling to Lawrence University 7-4.

Game One: Wesleyan 6, Clarkson 5

The Cardinals struck first with a run in the bottom of the first inning as Rielly Wieners plated Olivia Gorman with a one-out single. Clarkson rallied back for one in the third inning thanks to some Wesleyan miscues. Sam Mennig singled and moved over to second on a Riley LeBourveau sac bunt. Danielle Whitham then reached first on an error, allowing Mennig to score from second base. Wesleyan countered with a run in the bottom half of the inning, producing a two-out rally that allowed Julie McDonald to single home Marina Williams.

The Cardinals tacked on two runs in both the fourth and fifth innings. Danielle Rinaldi singled home Olivia Gorman and then came around herself on an error. In the fifth, Rachel Curran tripled home McDonald and Maddie Ikeda's single to center scored Curran to put the Cardinals up 6-1.

Clarkson wouldn't go away quietly, however, coming back for three runs in the top of the sixth. Hannah Isaacson tripled to right, scoring Summer Lancette and Michele Winn to make the score 6-3, and Sam Mennig's single pushed Isaacson around to pull the Knights back within two. In the top of the seventh, Lancette grounded out to shortstop, but putting the ball in play allowed Danielle Whitham to score after walking and moving up on a Hannah Bowen single. However, a groundout and a strikeout ended the threat as the Knights fell 6-5.

Lancette and Mennig each contributed two hits for the Knights, while Isaacson plated a pair with her triple. Wesleyan's 'aria Noto gained the win with 5.1 innings of work and Lauren Gaffney-Gomez earned a save by retiring five hitters.

Game Two: Clarkson 3, Farmingdale State 1

Unquestionably the quickest game of the day thanks to only 10 combined hits, Clarkson took advantage of some Rams' errors to push across key runs in the first and sixth to gain the win. Hannah Bowen opened the bottom of the first with a leadoff single and advanced to third on an error by the first baseman while Summer Lancette was hitting. That miscue proved costly, as Bridget Woolley lifted a sacrifice fly to plate the freshman and give Clarkson a 1-0 advantage. Two innings later, Danielle Whitham led off with a single and moved up to second on a single from Bowen, but Summer Lancette lined into a double play to remove Bowen from the base running equation. It didn't matter, however, as Woolley delivered again with a single to score Whitham.

In the top of the sixth, the Rams scored on an attempted double steal to end the inning. Sabrina Bencivenga broke for the plate while Clarkson tried to pick off Aleysha Midgett, and she made it before the final out of the inning could be made. That run didn't matter for the Knights, though, as Clarkson scored in the bottom half of the frame when Woolley scored on an error by the Farmingdale shortstop.

Sam Mennig pitched seven strong innings for the Knights, allowing five hits and just a single run while striking out seven. Jaxie Collard also pitched well for Farmingdale, giving up five hits and a walk in six innings of work.

Game Three: Lawrence 7, Clarkson 4

Three runs in the last two innings gave the Vikings the win after Clarkson had rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Lawrence started the game with a run in the top of the first when Lexi Angemi doubled home a run, but Clarkson scored two with four straight hits to open the game. Bowen, Lancette, and Woolley each singled to load the bases and Michele Winn plated two with her single to give Clarkson a 2-1 lead. In the top of the fourth, the Vikings scored two of their own on a two-out, two-run double from Amanda Karnatz, and Kori Looker doubled home a run in the fifth to put Lawrence up 4-2. In the bottom half of the fifth, Winn tripled home Woolley and Kat Plescow delivered a two-out single to score Winn to knot the game up at 4-4.

In the top of the sixth, the Vikings scored a run on an Angemi double to center and then added another when Ceara Larson reached on an error. Lawrence pushed across an insurance run in the top of the seventh when Karnatz singled home the seventh run of the game.

Winn finished 3-for-4 with three runs driven in and both Bowen and Lancette added a pair of hits. Mennig went five innings, giving up a single earned run. Maggie Stark took the loss by pitching the final two innings for the Knights. For the Vikings, Karnatz was 4-for-5 with three runs batted in and Angemi was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI.