North Myrtle Beach, S.C. – The SUNY Poly softball team dropped both games of a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon, falling 7–2 to Vermont State Castleton in the opener before coming up short in a tight 6–4 contest against Mount Saint Vincent in game two. With the pair of loses, the Wildcats begin their season 0-2.
GAME ONE: SUNY POLY VS. VERMONT STATE CASTLETON
SUNY Poly threatened early in the top of the first inning. Shelbi Hagues and Alivia Turk each delivered singles to put runners on the corners, but the Wildcats were unable to capitalize as Castleton worked out of the inning with a pair of strikeouts.
Castleton took advantage of an opportunity in the bottom half of the frame. After a leadoff walk and a single put runners on base, Alex Brouillette drove in the first run with a groundout before Makayla Walsh doubled to right field to bring home another, giving the Spartans a 2–0 lead after one inning.
Both teams were held quiet in the second inning, but Castleton added to its lead in the third. A walk followed by a single up the middle from Samera Rideout allowed the Spartans to extend the margin to 3–0.
The Wildcats responded in the fourth inning with their most productive offensive frame of the game. Annabella Mondello singled to start the rally and Kelly Powell followed with a base hit to put two runners aboard. After a walk to Marissa Jarvis loaded the bases, Katelyn Adams reached on a throwing error that allowed Mondello and Powell to score, trimming the deficit to 3–2.
Castleton answered immediately in the bottom of the inning with a decisive rally. After placing runners on base, Abby Hacker delivered a key two-run triple to right field before Jordan Hill added an RBI single as the Spartans pushed across four runs in the frame to stretch their lead to 7–2.
SUNY Poly attempted to mount a comeback over the final innings. Joely Welpe doubled in the sixth and the Wildcats collected two more singles in the seventh from Reese Tucker and Hagues, but Castleton held firm defensively to close out the 7–2 victory.
GAME TWO: SUNY POLY VS. MOUNT SAINT VINCENT
SUNY Poly jumped out to a fast start in the bottom of the first inning. Ava Faragon reached after being hit by a pitch and quickly moved into scoring position with a stolen base. Hagues then delivered a line-drive single to left field to bring Faragon home for the game's first run. Later in the inning, Mondello lifted a sacrifice fly to left field that plated Hagues and gave the Wildcats a 2–0 advantage.
Behind Hagues in the circle, SUNY Poly kept Mount Saint Vincent off the scoreboard through the first three innings as the Wildcats carried the two-run lead into the middle frames.
The Wildcats added another run in the third inning. Hagues doubled to right field to begin the rally and eventually came around to score on a groundout by Mondello, extending the SUNY Poly lead to 3–0.
Mount Saint Vincent responded in the fourth inning. After a pair of walks and a dropped third strike loaded the bases, the Dolphins strung together a pair of hits that produced three runs, evening the score at 3–3.
SUNY Poly regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Turk reached on a fielding error and moved into scoring position before Mondello lined a triple to left field that brought Turk home and pushed the Wildcats back in front, 4–3.
The game remained tight entering the final inning, but Mount Saint Vincent rallied in the seventh. A sequence of baserunners and a pair of key hits allowed the Dolphins to score three runs and take a 6–4 lead.
SUNY Poly looked to answer in its final at-bat as Faragon reached on an error and Turk added a single to put the tying run on base, but Mount Saint Vincent recorded the final outs to secure the 6–4 win.
