BROOKE ATKINS
Special to The Leader
Everyone get the brooms out! Our Fredonia women’s softball team is on a three game sweep. The Blue Devils played their first SUNYAC game against Geneseo on April 1, where they won both games. And it was no April fools joke.
The team got off to a slow start, trailing 5-1 before Cherise Gunnell singled and Jess Lauck hit a double to get the team rallied. Junior Kim Lotocki and freshman Maggie Paras both followed with an RBI single to put Fredonia back in the game.
In the bottom of the seventh, with Lauck and Madeline Medina on base, a dropped ball allowed the tying run to score, and Paras stepped in, singling for Fredonia’s first walk-out hit of the afternoon. Earning her first collegiate win, Aldyn Carlson went 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.
Key hits came in clutch to help Fredonia win 10-9 in the second game. In the fifth inning, big hits included a two-run double by Lauck, an RBI single by Lotocki and a single by Lauren Pixley and Gunnell.
Taking advantage of Geneseo’s errors in the field, the Blue Devils rallied again when Medina got the inning started with a pinch-hit single, and Kate Nicholson got an infield single, having Nikki Lent score two runs when she got a double to center.
Relieving the pitcher, Kelsey Gannett struck out all the batters of Geneseo, which gave Fredonia the win for the day.
Playing their next SUNYAC games against Potsdam, Fredonia gained another two wins. The first game ended with a score of 4-0, advancing the Blue Devils to 4-0 in the conference and 7-8 overall. This is the best conference start they have had since going 6-0 to open the 2011 season.
Retiring the last 18 batters she faced and only have two hits against her, Gannett held Geneseo to no runs. Due to a site switch, Fredonia was the away team for both games, but they took the first at-bats to get ahead.
Nicholson walked and Lent singled, getting the inning started, but then Morgan stepped in, driving one run home. An error led to another run. Gannett contributed with eight strikeouts in the first three innings and had at least one strikeout every inning, finishing with 12 strikeouts, which tied her for the best fourth-best single game by a Blue Devil pitcher.
Starting out the game strong, Lindsey Forness hit a one-out double to get a three-run first inning going. Morgan then followed with a single, and two-out RBI singles were hit by Lauck and Paras. Maddy Stavish led off with a single and eventually came around to score on two wild pitches. Allowing four hits in Potsdam’s third inning, Carlson was relieved by Degroat, who faced two batters over the minimum over the next four innings. She gave up two hits, struck out two, all while improving herself to 3-3 this season.
Coming off a four game winning streak, Fredonia knew they had to play hard to keep their winning streak alive.
Playing their next two games against Plattsburgh State and winning both, they equalled the best conference start in Fredonia softball history. With Paras coming in clutch with hitting these last few games, it is only fitting that she lined a two-run double into left field to bring the Blue Devils to the lead. Senior Gannett pitched a complete-game with only five hits.
Madeline Medina lined to center, bringing that to her third RBI of the game.
Plattsburgh started off game two with a home run, which led Fredonia to fall behind quickly. Morgan and Lauck started the hitting for Fredonia with a single to left-center and a single to center. Sophomore Maddy Stavish brought home Paras for an insurance run to put the Devils on top.
With Plattsburgh being scheduled as the home team, they got their last at bats where the women shut them down. With a fly ball to left field, freshman Lauren Pixley caught a windblown fly ball near the foul line to give Fredonia the 7-3 win.
Women’s softball played on the afternoon of April 4 at Rochester Institute of Technology before playing a doubleheader April 8 at home vs. Brockport at 3 p.m. and 5:45 p.m.