BUFFALO, N.Y.— Buffalo State used a pair of three-run innings to rally for a 7-6 win in the first game before using a two-run bottom of the fifth inning to escape with a 2-1 victory to earn the doubleheader sweep over visiting RIT in non-conference action on the cold April afternoon.
GAME #1 BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Buffalo State - 7, RIT - 6
LOCATION: Softball Field – Buffalo, N.Y.
RECORDS: Buffalo State (11-10), RIT (8-14)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Taylor Benton (Niagara Falls/Niagara Wheatfield) and Sydney McIntosh (Buffalo/Kenmore West) finished with four of the team's six hits, each going 2 for 4, while McIntosh added an RBI.
- Oriana Castello (Pearl River/Nanuet) went 1 for 4 with four RBIs and a run scored.
- Chelsea Davis (Lancaster/Lancaster) finished 1 for 4 with an RBI, while Julia Blujus (Amherst/Sacred Heart) chipped in an RBI and two runs scored.
- RIT jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with a three-hit first inning and held the Bengals scoreless for 2 2/3 innings.
- Buffalo State trimmed the lead in half as Davis hit an RBI single to right field on the very next pitch.
- The Tigers responded with a four-run, three-hit fourth inning to extend its lead to 6-1, but couldn't hold its momentum as the Bengals used three walks and a hit by pitch to score the first run and a two-out, RBI double from Castello to cut the deficit to 6-4 in the bottom of the inning.
- After a scoreless fifth inning, Buffalo State used two-hits and three Tiger errors to push across three runs to give the Bengals their first lead of the game.
- RIT threatened in the top of the seventh with back-to-back singles, but a final strikeout proved to be the difference.
- Emma Richard (Grand Island/Grand Island) earned the win on the mound for Buffalo State, giving up only four earned runs on 10 hits in a complete seven innings of work.
FOR THE FOES
- Three players recorded two hits for the Tigers, while Danielle Hotz finished with two RBIs.
- Melissa Gould was credited with the loss, giving up three runs on four hits in 2 1/3 innings of relief. Torie Adler gave up three earned runs on two hits in 3 2/3 innings.
GAME #2 BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Buffalo State – 2, RIT – 1
LOCATION: Softball Field – Buffalo, N.Y.
RECORDS: Buffalo State (12-10), RIT (8-14)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Castello paced the Bengals' offense in the second game, going 2 for 3 with an RBI.
- Hannah Dunlap (Batavia/Oakfield-Alabama), Davis, McIntosh and Benton all went 1 for 2 from the dish with Benton adding an RBI and Davis chipping in a run scored.
- Blujus went 1 for 4 with a lead-off triple that started the two-run top of the fifth for the Bengals.
- Buffalo State's Marissa Hayes (N.Tonawanda/Niagara Wheatfield) and RIT's Torie Adler were locked in a pitcher's dual for the first four innings as the score remained 0-0 going into the bottom of a fifth.
- After the leadoff triple, Buffalo State struck first a sacrifice hit by Castello that scored Blujus and doubled its lead with a one-out RBI single up the middle by Benton two batters later.
- RIT responded by plating a single run on three hits in the top of the sixth innings but couldn't tally the second run as it the Bengals closed the game with a 1-2-3 top of the seventh.
- Hayes earned the win by giving up only one run on nine hits in a complete seven innings of work.
FOR THE FOES
- Jennifer Vickery and Sarah Thayer combined for four of RIT's nine hits.
- Torie Adler was credited with the loss, giving up two runs on seven hits in 4 1/3 innings. Abcde Cortinas didn't give up a hit in her final 1 2/3 innings of work.
UP NEXT
Buffalo State returns to SUNYAC play as it travels to Potsdam for a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m.