ONEONTA, N.Y. -- The SUNY Oneonta women's softball team started the weekend strong with a doubleheader sweep against Fredonia, Friday afternoon. The Red Dragons won both games by mercy rule in five innings with 10-2 scores and improved to 16-14 on the season, 8-4 in SUNYAC, while the Blue Devils dropped to 11-19 overall and 6-8 in conference play. Junior
Julia Serena (White Plains, N.Y./Valhalla) finished the day with three hits and four RBI, while seniors
Gianna Cancelleri (Naples, FL/Washingtonville (NY)),
Sara Cartier (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse), and freshman
Emily Brown (Westbury, N.Y./Clarke) all recorded two hits with two RBI in game one.
Game One: Oneonta 10, Fredonia 2 (5 innings)
After a couple of scoreless innings, Oneonta took a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the third. Serena hit an RBI single to center field with the bases loaded before Brown doubled to right center to score two more runs. Cartier gave the Red Dragons the four-run lead with a single to center that brought Brown home.
Fredonia's Erin Cunningham hit an RBI double to left field for their first run in the top of the fourth. Freshman
Ava Thys (Fairfax, Va./James W. Robinson Secondary (Va.)) got on base in the bottom half of the fourth with a leadoff double that landed fair near the right-field line. Fiori worked a two-out walk then got caught in a rundown to give Thys time to cross home to make it 5-1.
The Blue Devils tallied their final run on a fielder's choice in the top of the fifth as the Red Dragons put up five runs in the bottom of the inning to end the game. Cartier hit an infield RBI single to shortstop and later scored on a fielder's choice where the second baseman threw the ball and hit Hussey who was running to second base. Cancelleri mashed a two-run triple to left field then scored the final run on a fielding error.
Cancelleri went 2-for-2 with two RBI and scored twice, while Brown and Cartier each went 2-for-3 with two RBI and one run. Brown (7-5) pitched the complete game for Oneonta, struck out seven, and allowed two runs on four hits.
Emily Chelius (3-6) received the loss after pitching 4.0 innings, striking out one, and allowing five runs on seven hits. Mack Celauro pitched 0.1 innings, faced seven batters, and allowed five runs, two earned, on four hits.
Game Two: Oneonta 10, Fredonia 2 (5 innings)
Chelius gave Fredonia a 1-0 lead in game two with a single at the start of game two, but Oneonta took control and scored nine runs through the first three innings, four of them in the first. Serena lined a triple over the center fielder to score senior
Delaney Haley (Levittown, N.Y./Division Avenue). The Red Dragons began to capitalize on several Blue Devils errors as Serena scored on a dropped fly ball, while freshmen
Ella Stewart (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) and
Maya Nelsen (South Salem, N.Y./John Jay Cross River) crossed home on another dropped fly ball by the right fielder. In the second inning, Brown reached first on an error where the first baseman couldn't field the throw, and later scored on a fielding error by the center fielder. Thys singled hit an RBI single to right center in the bottom of the third, then Serena drilled a two-run single to center to go up 9-1.
Both teams traded a run with each other in the fifth inning. Allie Wandell had an RBI single, while Cancelleri worked a walk, stole second and third, then touched home for the win when Haley got caught in a rundown.
Sophomore
Anna Torgersen (Chester, NJ/Mendham) (3-1) earned the win after pitching 3.0 innings as the reliever, struck out two, and allowed one run on three hits. Senior
Marissa Dionisio (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) started the first 2.0 innings, struck out one, and allowed one run on two hits.
Madison Lowe (1-4) was tagged with the loss after pitching 2.1 innings, striking out two, allowing nine runs, two earned, on four hits. Jordan Kanick pitched 1.2 innings, struck out two, and allowed one run on one hit.
The doubleheader games against Fredonia were designated to the StrikeOut Cancer movement. The National Fastpitch Coaches Association's (NFCA) StrikeOut Cancer is a support program that aids coaches with their own awareness initiatives. The program leverages the personal experiences, community leadership, and professional excellence of fastpitch softball coaches nationwide to help increase cancer education and promote healthy living through awareness efforts and fundraising activities. During Friday's games, the Oneonta softball team raised $227 for cancer research.
