ITHACA, N.Y. – After
Anna Cornell spun a shutout in a 1-0 win over Cortland in Tuesday's first game of the doubleheader, it took a walk-off in the bottom of the ninth for the Ithaca College softball team to earn a 9-8 hard fought win over the Red Dragons in the nightcap. With the sweep, the Bombers pushed their overall record to 21-10 with six Liberty League games remaining in the regular season.
Ithaca 1, SUNY Cortland 0 (F)
Anna Cornell got the start in the pitching circle as overall she spun the ball well gaining six strikeouts across seven shutout innings. She was dealing in the beginning of the game, striking out two batters in the top of the first frame.
Sela Scheinman led off the bottom of the inning with an infield single, but was gunned down at third base on a fielder's choice that stalled the Bombers momentum.
The Red Dragons got their first base runner in the top of the second with Brooke Scheibe lining a single to the right field gap. She moved to scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Cornell was able to escape the jam, striking out the next two batters in order. The Bombers broke the deadlock with an RBI single off the bat of shortstop
Sela Scheinman that plated
Ava Rao in the bottom of the second.
Cortland left a runner stranded in the top of the third, but once again
Anna Cornell was on the top of her game as she induced three-straight ground balls. The Bombers were able to get two runners on with two outs, but an outstanding play was made in the field by the Cortland third baseman Kaeli McAnnally ending the inning.
Anna Cornell worked a 1-2-3 top of the fifth inning, retiring the Cortland batters in order.
The Bombers were nearly able to start a two-out rally at the bottom of the fifth, but the Cortland pitcher McKenna Barry got out of the jam when
Kailen Winkelblech lined out. Ithaca carried its 1-0 advantage into the top of the seventh, where the Red Dragons led it off with a single off the bat of Halle Wright, but Cornell shut the door capping off the 1-0 win.
Ithaca 9, Cortland 8 (F-9)
The Bombers offense exploded for three runs in the bottom of the first inning, capitalizing on three hits.
Sydney Miranda ripped an RBI single to break open the scoring and
Hudson Hassler doubled off the right field wall driving in two, as Ithaca led 3-0 after the first inning.
Haley Petrucci hit a three-run blast, her 12th of the season, moving her up to second by herself in Division III. The Bombers led 8-0 in the bottom of the second as Cortland was forced to bring in relief pitchers Kaeli Murtagh and Kim Westenberg.
Cortland was able to strike back for a pair of runs in the top of the third off of
Taylor Brunn. The big blow was a two-RBI single off the bat of McKenna Barry. Cortland clawed back two more runs to make it an 8-4 game going into the bottom half of the fourth frame. Cortland's relief pitcher, Kim Westenberg, mowed down the IC offensive lineup and this time two more runs were plated including a Gina Meyers sacrifice fly.
Ainsley Rogers came in to try and close it out in the bottom of the seventh but a pair of fielding errors helped the Red Dragons as they tied it up at eight runs apiece on a Julz Koch RBI double to left center.
Neither team was able to make the most of the runner starting on second in the eighth inning.
Sela Scheinman came up the hero for the Bombers when she attempted a sacrifice bunt and ran down the line hard as the Red Dragons throw ended up sailing wide with
Belle de Oliveira scoring the winning run on the play.
Ithaca College will return to action in a Liberty League doubleheader at the University of Rochester currently set for Saturday, April 27 with game times of 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
