ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Elmira College softball traded wins with Empire 8 Conference foe Nazareth College on Saturday afternoon at Flyers Field. The Golden Flyers (1-5, 1-3 E8) earned a 5-1 win in game one, before the Soaring Eagles (3-7, 2-2 E8) rallied behind a five-RBI effort from
Katie Distefano '24 to secure an 11-7 victory in the nightcap.
Nazareth 5, Elmira 1
Elmira opened the first game of today's doubleheader by taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. With one out,
Alex Brockhuizen '22 hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Distefano from third base.
EC led through 2.5 innings, before Lily Sullivan scored in the bottom of the third inning on a groundout deep in the hole at shortstop.
Nazareth broke through to take the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, scoring four runs with two outs. An infield single scored Allison Smith to make it 2-1, before Aubrin Smith cleared the bases with a double down the left-field line to put Naz on top, 5-1.
Elmira's best chance of a comeback occurred in the sixth inning when the Soaring Eagles loaded the bases with two outs. Unfortunately, all three runners were left stranded as Maddie Funk pitched her way out of the jam. Funk eventually retired EC in order in the top of the seventh to secure the win.
Elmira 11, Nazareth 7
Game two was a slugfest, as 18 runs were plated between the two sides. The offensive-packed contest saw the Golden Flyers jump out to a 7-2 lead through two innings of play.
For Elmira,
Alex Brockhuizen drove in
Paige Cringe '21 with a single to center field in the first inning, while Distefano split the third baseman and shortstop to score
Janie Kempf '21 in the second inning. Naz plated two runs in the bottom of the first inning and five in the second.
EC added one run in the third and fourth innings. A two-out double from
Madison Brown-Bloom '23 scored
Felicity Brockhuizen '22 from second, who led off the inning with a double to center. In the fourth inning,
Alex Brockhuizen drew a walk with the bases loaded to cut the Naz lead to 7-4.
The Soaring Eagles jumped ahead and took its second lead of the contest in the top of the fifth inning behind the power hitting of Distefano. With the bases loaded, Distefano homered to left center field, plating Brown-Bloom, Kempf, and
Ally Barr '21 in the process to give the Elmira women an 8-7 lead.
Elmira added three insurance runs in the top of the sixth to extend the lead to 11-7. All three runs were scored on Nazareth's errors, as Brown-Bloom, Kempf and
Jillian Cortez '23 crossed home plate. The additional runs were more than enough for Elmira as the Purple and Gold secured a four-run league victory.
Distefano finished with five RBIs on 2-of-5 hitting, while
Alex Brockhuizen had two RBIs on 1-of-4 hitting. Brown-Bloom accounted for EC's other RBI with a 3-for-5 showing at the dish. Her three hits tied for the game high and she also scored two runs. Kempf was 1-for-2 on the day with one walk and a game-high four runs scored.
Barr got the start in the pitcher's circle and collected the win after going four innings. She allowed seven runs, five earned, on 11 hits with two walks and one strikeout. Cortez came in for relief duty in the fifth inning and was credited with a save. She tossed three innings of shutout ball, allowing just two hits, one walk, while striking out three batters.
News and Notes
- EC logged double-digit hits for the second time this season.
- Elmira tied its season-high RBI output in game two with eight.
- EC's 11 runs were season high.
- Distefano's five RBIs in game one was a career best.
- Distefano leads Elmira in homers with two.
- Kempf's four runs scored in game two was a career high.
- Barr improved to 3-4 on the year.
- Cortez earned her first career save.
Up Next
Elmira returns to action on Tuesday, April 13, when the Soaring Eagles host Russell Sage College in a 3:00 p.m. doubleheader at Eldridge Park Stadium.
