ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College softball team could not have asked for a better start to their 2021 season, as the Bombers smacked seven home runs en route to a 10-0 and 17-0 doubleheader sweep of Elmira College at Kostrinsky Field on March 24. The games marked IC's first contests in 377 days and the first time the Bombers have played at home since the end of the 2019 season. The victories are also the first on South Hill for head coach Hannah Quintana '07.

Junior Julia Loffredo posted a career day on Wednesday as she went 7-for-7 with three home runs, eight RBI, six runs scored and a double. Loffredo slugged 2.429 in the doubleheader.

Senior Gabby Laccona stroked two homers in the nightcap, while senior Haley White and graduate student Haley Gaffney also went deep.

GAME ONE: ITHACA 10, ELMIRA 0 (5 innings)

Ithaca threatened in the first inning by placing runners on first and second base with one out, but a fielder's choice and strikeout kept the Bombers off the board. Sophomore Allison Dell'Orto reached on a one-out walk and Loffredo followed with a single to set up the scoring opportunity.

In the bottom of the third inning, Dell'Orto once again reached base with a one-out walk and Loffredo followed with a two-run home run to dead centerfield to give IC its first runs of the season and a 2-0 lead.

The Bombers put the opener out of reach in the bottom of the fourth with eight runs on seven hits to build a 10-0 lead, and the eventual final score. IC blasted a pair of home runs in the inning – a two-run shot by junior Daniella Mulvey and a solo homer from White. The round-trippers were back-to-back to cap off the frame and put IC over the eight-run rule mark.

The inning began with a lead-off double by White and she later scored on a sacrifice fly from senior Samantha Troetti. After a double from sophomore Kailey Collins and walk by Laccona, Dell'Orto drove in a run with an infield single.

Loffredo then brought home Laccona with a hard-hit ball to third to make the score 5-0. Two more runs crossed the plate on a two-run double off the bat of Mulvey before the homers.

Senior Beth Fleming earned the victory in 5.0 innings pitched. Fleming struck out 11 batters and allowed just one hit and three walks in the complete game.

Loffredo went 3-for-3 with three RBI and two runs scored, while White was 2-for-3. Dell'Orto reached back all three times with two walks and a hit, while Mulvey and Gaffney had two-RBI openers.

GAME TWO: ITHACA 17, ELMIRA 0 (5 innings)

In the nightcap, IC wasted no time getting on the board as Laccona led-off with a solo shot that landed on top of the batting cage in left field. Two batters later, Loffredo continued her perfect day at the plate with an RBI double down the left field line that brought in Mulvey. A few pitches later, Gaffney sent a comebacker off the leg of Elmira's pitcher, which ricocheted into right field and Loffredo came home to give IC a 3-0 cushion.

The inning continued as first-year Belle de Oliveira doubled to the left-center gap off the glove of a diving fielder to push home Gaffney and extend the lead to 4-0. In the next at bat, first-year Hudson Hassler stroked a two-run double to the left-center gap, clearing the bases, as White and de Oliveira scored to make the lead 6-0.

The Bombers batted around and Laccona capped off the inning with a two-run homer to left, this time over the cages, to extend the difference to 8-0.

In the bottom of the second, Loffredo cranked a lead-off solo homer to left-center for IC's ninth run of Game Two.

IC pushed five more runs across in the third to account for a 14-0 advantage. The Bombers quickly loaded the bases on singles sophomore Alison May and Dell'Orto, and an error of the bat of Laccona. Mulvey brought home two with a double to right-center and Loffredo followed with an RBI single through the left side.

The Bombers loaded the bases again in the frame and two more runs came home off on a sac fly by graduate student Frankie-Ann McCauley to conclude the five-run inning.

Ithaca wrapped the sweep with three more runs in the fourth inning, highlighted by a two-run homer from Loffredo. The other run scored on a double steal by May and Collins.

Sophomore Riley Piromalli went the distance and struck out nine batters to four walks and just two hits allowed.

The Bombers will be back in action on Saturday, March 27 for a Liberty League home doubleheader against RIT.