Cobleskill, NY: SUNY Cobleskill Ag & Tech softball dropped the opener to Elmira College before battling back in the second game, splitting a non-conference doubleheader Tuesday at Fighting Tiger Field by scores of 11-4 and 7-5 under cloudy skies. A costly four-run inning in the opener proved too much to overcome, but the Fighting Tigers answered with a four-run second inning of their own in the nightcap and never looked back, improving to 16-19 overall on the season.
Game 1: Cobleskill showed early life, matching Elmira run for run through three innings before a five-run fourth inning broke the game open and put the Tigers in an unrecoverable deficit.
Starter
Madelynn Orosz and the Fighting Tigers actually responded after Elmira scored three in the top of the third —
Avery Prievo singled to spark a two-run Cobleskill bottom half. Prievo scored on an error, and
Gabriella Wendelken's RBI fielder's choice brought home
Brielle Dixon to knot the game at two. The rally kept things tight, but the fourth inning unraveled quickly. Back-to-back singles, a pair of passed balls, and a Hannah Colwill two-run single loaded the damage before Cobleskill could stop the bleeding. By the time Orosz returned to close the frame, Elmira had scored five times to take a commanding 8-2 lead.
Orosz and Dixon combined to absorb the bulk of the innings, with Dixon taking the loss. Elmira added a run in the fifth and two more in the seventh to close out the 11-4 final.
Cobleskill's offense had moments but couldn't string them together consistently. Prievo was the bright spot, going 2-for-3 with a double, two runs scored, and an RBI. Dixon went 2-for-4 at the plate in a dual pitching/hitting role, and
Kylie Rattigan added a double and scored. The Tigers finished with eight hits but left runners stranded at critical moments against a patient Elmira lineup.
Game 2: The Fighting Tigers came out with a different energy in the nightcap and built their lead early, riding a career afternoon from
Gabriella Wendelken and a dominant second half from
Sam Lawton on the mound to even the day.
Elmira struck first with two runs in the top of the first, but Cobleskill answered with a decisive four-run second inning that set the tone for everything that followed. Wendelken opened the frame with a double and came home on a
Sam Lawton sacrifice fly. With the bases loaded,
Kylie Rattigan launched a three-run triple to clear them and push Cobleskill to a 4-2 lead. Rattigan's triple was the swing of the afternoon, finishing the game with three RBI and a run scored.
The Tigers continued to add insurance,
Taegyn Hart's RBI single in the third, Lawton's RBI single in the fifth, and Wendelken's RBI single in the sixth kept extending the cushion each time Elmira threatened to close the gap. When Elmira pulled within two in the fourth on a pair of RBI singles, Cobleskill responded with two more of its own across the fifth and sixth frames.
Wendelken was dominant at the plate, going a perfect 4-for-4 with a double, two runs scored, and an RBI — her best offensive performance of the season. Hart also stepped up in a big way in her second appearance, going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Lawton took over in relief of Wendelken in the fourth inning and earned the win, striking out six of the final 12 batters she faced to slam the door and improve to 5-7.
Up Next: The Fighting Tigers return to action Saturday, May 2nd on the road at Vermont State Johnson in a North Atlantic Conference doubleheader.
