ALFRED, N.Y. – The Elmira College Softball program would see its season come to an end on Friday afternoon in an elimination contest on the second day of the Empire 8 Softball Championships following a 7-1 loss against Russell Sage College.  

 
GAME INFORMATION:
SCORE: Elmira 1, Sage 7
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (20-19), Sage (21-17)
LOCATION: Alfred, New York | Harrington Field
W|L|S: T. Dicranian (W, 11-9) | M. Sobel (L, 12-12) | None


HOW IT HAPPENED:
A pitcher's duel would highlight the first three innings of the contest before either side would break the scoreless tie as the Soaring Eagles produced a run in the top of the fourth inning. Asia Curkendall '25 opened the inning with a single through the right side and would later advance into scoring position following a groundout by Kaitlyn Belmont '24. Curkendall would then steal third base and score on the same play as the throw from the catcher would elude the Sage defender.
 
The Soaring Eagles looked for more offense in the frame as Katie Distefano '24, Jillian Cortez '23, and Hannah Flagg '24 each reached base with two outs. Sage would avoid any further damage on the scoreboard as a pop-up ended the frame while leaving the bases loaded.
 
Sage answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 2-1 advantage and would not look back as the Gators scored a run in the fifth and four more in the bottom of the sixth inning to extend the lead to 7-1.
 
Elmira opened the top of the seventh inning with back-to-back singles from Cortez and Flagg as the Purple & Gold looked to mount a rally against the Gators. A double play turned by Sage would shift the momentum before a ground out to second secured the victory for the Gators to keep their championship hopes alive.
 
Maryann Sobel '25 yielded just one earned run through 4.1 innings of work inside the circle for Elmira as she suffered the loss as a pair of unearned runs also scored. She notched one strikeout while yielding three hits and no walks. In the circle, Cortez closed the game for the Soaring Eagles as she yielded four runs off six hits.