SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Ithaca College softball team swept Liberty League foe Skidmore on Friday. The Bombers took game one, 4-3 in ten innings, before winning game two, 4-0. Ithaca is now 21-5-1 on the season and 10-0 in the Liberty League.
 
Game 1 | Ithaca 4, Skidmore 3 (10 innings)
 
It was Skidmore that struck first in this extra-innings affair, putting up two runs in the first inning as Hannah Davis drilled a home run to left center, also bringing in Megan White.
 
After a scoreless second inning, the Bombers got on the board in the top of the third inning.
 
With one out, Vanessa Brown drew a walk before moving to second on a Nikkey Skuraton ground out. Brown scored on the next play when Alex Wright singled up the middle, cutting the Thoroughbred's lead to 2-1.
 
Ithaca added another run to tie things up, 2-2, in the top of the fourth inning.
 
Gabby Laccona drew a walk to lead off the inning and headed to third base on a Daniella Mulvey sacrifice bunt. The Bombers pushed their second run across on a Haley White single to third, which brought in Laccona.
 
After five and one-half innings of scoreless play, the Bombers finally broke the deadlock in the top of the tenth inning with two runs.
 
Brown started out the inning on second base, per International Tie Breaker rules. She moved ahead a base on a Skuraton single to left field before Wright was intentionally walked to put runners on the corners.
 
Wright then stole second to give IC two runners in scoring position. An Abby Shields rip to center field scored both Brown and Wright to give Ithaca the 4-2 advantage over the Thoroughbreds.
 
Skidmore put together a rally in the bottom of the tenth inning, but only plated one run.
 
Maddie Nelson started the inning on second before Davis drew a two-out walk. Delaney Corbet followed with a single to left center, scoring Nelson and cutting IC's lead to 4-3. The Bombers, however, forced Genesis DelGado to ground out for the final out of the game.
 
Shields finished 3-for-5 with two RBI while Wright went 1-for-3 with one run and one RBI.
 
Emily Holden picked up the win in the circle to improve to 6-2 on the season. The junior came on in relief to pitch eight innings with eight strikeouts and seven hits.
 
Game 2 | Ithaca 4, Skidmore 0
 
Ithaca put up a run in the top of the second inning to take a 1-0 advantage over Skidmore.
 
With two outs, first-year Kira Flegenheimer sent a single to left field and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Annie Cooney then singled to third base, sending Flegenheimer home to give IC the lead.
 
The Bombers added a second run in the top of the sixth inning.
 
Hannah Anderson led off the inning with a single to the pitcher. Kaitlin Maniscalco, who came on to run for Anderson, moved to second on a Laccona sacrifice bunt before scoring on a Mulvey double to left center to put IC up 2-0.
 
In the top of the seventh inning, Ithaca put up two more runs to take a 4-0 advantage over the Thoroughbreds.
 
Wright led off with a single to centerfield before scoring on a Shields' double to left center. Shields, who advanced to third on the throw to home, then scored on a Laccona sacrifice fly.
 
Brown and Flegenheimer both went 2-for-3 in game two while Wright finished 1-for-2 with a run scored and Mulvey went 2-for-3 with one RBI and two doubles.
 
Beth Fleming picked up the win in the circle, pitching a complete game with seven hits and six strikeouts.
 
The Bombers are back in action tomorrow as they travel to RPI for a 2 p.m. doubleheader. Ithaca is home again on Tuesday against Cornell at 3:30 p.m.