HORSEHEADS, N.Y. – The Elmira College Softball team dropped a pair of "road" Empire 8 Conference games against the Pioneers from Utica University on Tuesday afternoon at the Holding Point Recreation Complex. The Soaring Eagles came up on the wrong side of two walk-off victories, as the Pioneers used seventh-inning efforts in each of the two games to break ties and secure the wins.
Hannah Flagg '24 finished the day with a 4-for-7 effort for Elmira in the nine spot, while Ally Barr '21 was the tough-luck loser in each of the two games despite allowing just one earned run over 8.1 innings pitched. With her 43rd pitching appearance, Barr moves into ninth place all-time in program history.
GAME INFORMATION:
SCORE: Elmira 1, Utica 2 (Game One)
Elmira 3, Utica 4 (Game Two)
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (6-9, 1-4 E8), Sage (8-14, 3-3 E8)
LOCATION: Horseheads, New York | Holding Point Recreation Complex
W|L|S: Ally Barr (2-2) | Kylie Murray (6-5) | None (Game One)
Ally Barr (2-3) | Kylie Murray (7-5) | None (Game One)
KEY MOMENT:
Murray pitched the Pioneers to 14.0 innings while going over 100 pitches in each of the two games.
The Pioneers came back from a 1-0 deficit in the 7th inning of game one, rallying for a pair of runs to win the game. In game two, the Pioneers repeated after the Soaring Eagles scored two runs to force a bottom of the seventh. With two outs, Utica rallied to push across the game-winning run.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The offense for both teams was at a minimum through the first inning and a half of game one, as neither team was able to put a runner on base. The Pioneers reached safely in the bottom of the second after a pair of singles against Elmira starting pitcher Ally Barr. From there, the game would remain scoreless until the top half of the sixth when EC was able to crack the scoreboard.
After Amelia Martin '23 doubled to leftfield to lead off the inning, a groundout to the right side from Madison Brown-Bloom moved Martin just 60-feet away from the plate. From there, Martin would score on a wild pitch with Jillian Cortez '23 at the dish to push the Soaring Eagles ahead 1-0.
After Barr completed a clean bottom half of the sixth inning, the Pioneers were able to start the bottom half of the seventh with an infield single. From there, a sacrifice bunt and a pair of consecutive errors from Elmira tied the game at 1-1. The Pioneers capped the game with a two-out single from Emily Joss securing the win for Utica, 2-1.
In-game two, Utica picked up where they left off in game one with a first-inning run as Kaitlyn Paul singled on the infield to bring home Joss and put the Pioneers ahead 1-0 against Elmira starting pitcher MaryAnn Sobel '25. EC would trail until the top of the fourth inning when Cortez doubled home Martin, who singled to open the innings. The score would remain 1-1 until the bottom of the 5th when Utica broke through for a pair of runs, and an eventual 3-1 lead.
With daylight running out, the Soaring Eagles put together a one-out rally in the seventh, recording a pair of runs on two hits. After Tiante Murray '25 hustled out an infield single Katie Distefano '24 walked before a single from Flagg put a pair of runners in scoring position while scoring Murray from second base. Down 3-2, Alex Brockhuizen '22 would reach base via a fielder's choice which knotted the score at 3-3.
In the bottom of the seventh, Barr would retire the first two batters of the inning who relieved Sobel after 5.2 innings of work. It would take the Pioneers just two additional batters to end the game as Joss singled, stole second, and was driven in by Lauren Paul to propel the Pioneers to its second walk-off win in as many games.
UP NEXT:
The Soaring Eagles will host Nazareth at the Holding Point this Friday for its first official home game of the season. First pitch in game one is set for 3:00 PM in game one.
