ALBANY, N.Y. – The Elmira College softball team traveled to Russell Sage on Saturday afternoon for their final regular season games. Needing a win to ensure a spot in the Empire 8 Tournament, the Soaring Eagles struggled offensively, scoring two runs on six hits across the two contests and dropping both.

GAME INFORMATION:
SCORE (G1): Elmira 2, Russell Sage 7
SCORE (G2, F5): Elmira 0, Russell Sage 10
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (15-19, 5-9 E8), Russell Sage (12-22, 6-8 E8)
LOCATION: Albany, N.Y. | Plumeri Complex
W|L|S: L. Madore (W, 8-10), K. McAnelly (L, 3-2) - GAME 1
W|L|S: L. Madore (W, 9-10), M. Lodowski (L, 0-4) - GAME 2

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Purple & Gold started the first matchup strong, scoring in the first inning. Brianna Ramstine '25 started the inning with a base hit and advanced to second on a stolen base. Katie Distefano '24 drove her home on another single, giving Elmira an early 1-0 lead.
• The Gators got the run back in the bottom half of the inning, scoring on a sacrifice fly to tie the game at one.
• Russell Sage took the lead in the following inning, scoring on an RBI single to give the hosts a 2-1 advantage heading into the third inning.
• Elmira began the top of the fourth with a Distefano single and Asia Curkendall '25 walk. Jocelyn Jean '27 advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt, putting the go-ahead run on second base with one out. However, EC made two straight outs to leave them stranded on base, still trailing by one.
• The score remained the same until the bottom of the fifth when Russell Sage would score four runs to open up a five-run lead on Elmira. The Gators got the first run of the inning on an RBI single before two consecutive bases-loaded walks gave them a 5-1 lead. Another RBI single rounded out the inning, and the Soaring Eagles trailed 6-1 entering the final two innings of play.
• Russell Sagle added another in the bottom of the sixth inning when Emma Heartquist opened the inning with a triple and scored on an RBI groundout.
• Elmira scored its second run of the contest on a successful double steal by Jean and Madison Brown-Bloom '23. However, that would be all the Soaring Eagles could do in the inning, as a groundout ended the game.
• Ramstine opened the second game with another leadoff hit, this time reaching on a triple. However, two strikeouts and a lineout left her at third base.
• The Gators opened the scoring with a five-run bottom of the first, scoring two runs on a fielder's choice and a sacrifice fly before two straight Soaring Eagle errors let in two more. They would get their fifth on an RBI groundout, putting Elmira in an early hole.
• Russell Sage scored its sixth run in the bottom of the second when Madalyn Ring stole third and scored on a throwing error.
• With Elmira trailing 6-0 in the top of the third inning, Ramstine notched her second hit of the contest with a one-out double. However, the Soaring Eagles had back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning scoreless.
• EC gave up its seventh run of the game in the bottom of the third on an RBI single, and after going down in order in the top of the third, Russell Sage tacked on three more runs in the bottom half of the inning. The scoring began on a single and an error, which allowed two Gators to score. The hosts followed with another RBI single to make it a 10-0 deficit for Elmira.
• The Soaring Eagles went down in order in the top of the fifth, and the game ended in a 10-0 loss to Russell Sage.
• Ramstine had three of Elmira's six hits on the day.