MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. – Cornell softball was defeated in each of its contests at The Spring Games on Sunday, Feb. 23, falling to Manhattan in the morning, 5-3, before dropping its fifth game of the weekend against Stony Brook, 7-0.
A pair of losses on Sunday drops Cornell's record to 2-3 for the season, with wins coming over Albany and Merrimack.
Game One
Manhattan got out to an early 3-0 lead over the Big Red, tagging
Gabrielle Maday for three earned runs in the third inning.
Ashley Delany relieved Maday in the third, holding the Jaspers scoreless as the game headed to the seventh inning.
In the seventh, Cornell rallied back, scoring three runs in the top half to tie the game at 3-3.
Bridgette Rooney and
Emily McKinney each walked to open the inning, with
Hanna Crist singling to left to load the bases.
Ruby Sugayan reach on a fielder's choice to help Cornell push its first runner across home plate, cutting Manhattan's lead to 3-1.
Olivia Rooney maintained the momentum with a single through the left side that scored pinch runner
Julie Hilcken. A
Brianna Straley single loaded the bases once more, setting up
Erin Rockstroh to drive in Sugayan on a fielder's choice to tie the game.
In the bottom of the seventh, a two-out home run spelled doom for the Big Red as Manhattan won on a walk-off.
Maicie Levitt, Bridgett Rooney,
Hanna Crist,
Olivia Rooney and
Brianna Straley all collected hits for Cornell in game one. Delany (0-1), despite allowing the walk-off home run, turned in a solid pitching performance over 4 1/3 innings, allowing four hits and striking out four.
Game Two
Cornell couldn't figure out Stony Brook pitcher Dawn Bodrug, who struck out 15 Cornell batters en route to a perfect game. It's the first perfect game thrown by a Stony Brook pitcher since current Cornell assistant
Allison Cukrov did it in 2012.
Katie Lew (0-1) pitched a complete game for the Big Red, allowing four earned runs over seven innings in the circle. Lew held Stony Brook to just one run through five innings before the Seawolves tacked on six runs over the final two innings.
Up Next: Cornell will next play at the George Mason Invitational, hosted by George Mason University on March 6-8 in Fairfax, Va. There, the Big Red will face Buffalo, Hofstra, George Mason and Canisius over three days of softball action.
