ITHACA, N.Y. – The No. 13 Ithaca College softball team swept St. Lawrence on Saturday in the 2019 Liberty League opener. The Bombers came out to win the first game 8-2 before claiming the second game, 7-0.
 
With the pair of wins, Ithaca is now 13-5-1 on the season with a 2-0 conference mark.
 
Game 1 | Ithaca 8, St. Lawrence 2
 
Although it was St. Lawrence that got on the board first, in the top of the first inning, Ithaca tied it up and used an explosive third inning to take a commanding lead.
 
The Saints scored both of their runs in the top of the first inning, starting with a Taylor Armijo lead-off walk. Elle Gray then reached on an error before an Angeline Carney single to left loaded the bases for St. Lawrence.
 
Sofia Adams drove in both the Saints' runs, drilling a double to left field to score Gray and Caitlyn Fuss, who was pinch running for Carney.
 
The Bombers evened the score in the bottom of the first, posting two runs of their own.
 
Vanessa Brown led off with a home run to left centerfield to put the first run on the board for Ithaca. Nikkey Skuraton then drew a walk and stole second to put herself in scoring position. A double to left field from Alex Wright brought in Skuraton to tie the game, 2-2.
 
After three quick outs in the top of the second, Ithaca put up another run in the bottom of the inning.
 
With two outs, Annie Cooney put a single into right center and then stole second. Brown followed that up with a single to left center, which scored Cooney, giving IC a 3-2 edge.
 
The Bombers forced three up, three down for St. Lawrence in the top of the third inning before going to work in the bottom of the third.
 
Wright led off with a double to left field and advanced to third on an Abby Shields pop up. Hannah Anderson then singled to right field, bringing in Wright for the first of five runs that inning.
 
Gabby Laccona followed with a double to left field, moving Anderson over to third base, before Haley White brought in Anderson with a sacrifice fly to center field.
 
First-year Kira Flegenheimer drew a walk before Cooney singled to left field, scoring Laccona to give Ithaca a 6-2 advantage over the Saints.
 
The final two runs of the game were drive in by Brown, who drilled a double to right center to bring in Flegenheimer and Cooney.
 
St. Lawrence had a chance to add more runs to the board in the top of the fifth inning, but IC got out of the inning unscathed, leaving two runners stranded.
 
Brown finished 3-for-4 with four RBI and one run scored while Wright also went 3-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored. Skuraton finished the game 2-for-3 with one run scored while Cooney went 2-for-3 with two runs and one RBI.
 
Senior Haley Congdon picked up the win in the circle to improve to 4-2 on the season, pitching a full game, scattering four hits and striking out six batters.
 
Game 2 | Ithaca 7, St. Lawrence 0
 
After two and one-half innings of scoreless play, Ithaca broke the stalemate in the bottom of the third inning with two runs.
 
Cooney drilled a double to right center before advancing to third on a Skuraton single to third base. Skuraton stole second to put two runners in scoring position for Ithaca before both scored on a Brown single to left field.
 
The Bombers had another big inning in the bottom of the fifth, putting up four more runs.
 
Laccona started the rally with a single to left field before stealing second. Brown drilled a single up the middle to score Laccona for the first run of the inning to give IC a 3-0 edge. Wright followed that up with a single to left field before an Abby Shields single to center brought in Brown for another run.
 
Shields followed by stealing second to put two runners in scoring position before Ellie Murray crushed a single to center, scoring both Wright and Shields to give the Bombers a 6-0 lead over the Saints.
 
Ithaca scored its final run of the day in the bottom of the sixth inning. Cooney led off with a triple to right field and scored on a Skuraton grounder, pushing IC's advantage to 7-0, which held for the remainder of the game.
 
Brown finished 3-for-4 with three RBI and one run scored. Her performance against the Saints pushed Brown past the 200-career hits mark. Murray went 2-for-3 with two RBI while Cooney also finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
 
Beth Fleming pitched a one-hitter in the circle to pick up the win for the Bombers and go 5-1 on the season. She held the Saints without a hit for six and one-third innings while also striking out 11 batters. Fleming struck out seven of the first nine batters she faced.
 
Ithaca is back in action with another Liberty League doubleheader tomorrow, Sunday, April 7, against Clarkson. Action is slated to begin at 1 p.m. at Kostrinsky Field.