March 12, 2006

OSCEOLA, FL - For the second straight day, the Colgate softball team (4-3) split a pair of contests at the Rebel Games in Florida. In the opener, the Raiders defeated Dayton 4-2, before Tennessee-Martin rallied in the bottom of the seventh for a 3-2 win in the nightcap.

In the opener against Dayton from the Atlantic 10 Conference, the Raiders received solid pitching from senior Kate Howard (Wheaton, IL), who picked up her third win in four decisions. Howard allowed eight hits, while striking out eight and walking two.

The Flyers, however, jumped on Howard for their first run in the top of the first inning, when Christine Eggers tripled down the right field line to open the inning. Then with two outs, she came home on a single by Blair Crabtree.

In the bottom of the first, Colgate tied the contest. LaPorscha Albert (Lewisville, TX) led off with a single, and scored on a fielding error by Dayton's right fielder on a ball hit by Kim Olmstead (Spring Hill, FL).

The Raiders scored their final three runs in the second inning for a 4-1 lead. Tiana Tyeskey (Granite Bay, CA) led off with a double, and being sacrificed to third by Jessi Bentovoja (El Dorado Hills, CA), came home on freshman Vicky Ortengren's (Colorado Springs, CO) single to centerfield. Then back-to-back singles by Albert and Olmstead loaded the bases with one out. Kortney Hannah (Vacaville, CA) drilled a single down the left field line to score two runs.

Dayton's final run came in the fourth inning on Christian Vetter's RBI single that plated Crabtree, who led off the inning with a single. The Flyers had the bases loaded when Howard struck out the final two batters.

Albert was 2-for-3 with a run scored for the Raiders, while Hannah was 1-for-2 with a pair of RBI.

In the nightcap, Colgate carried a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh before the SkyHawks rallied for the victory. Brandy Whalen singled up the middle with one out off Colgate relief pitcher Ashley Rowe (Tampa, Fla.), and Jennifer Young followed with another single. Both runners came home on Justine Pineda's double to left field with the winning runs.

Colgate had a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning when Hannah scored on a balk by Tennessee-Martin starter Ashton Strobe. Hannah led off the inning with a single, and was sacrificed to second, and moved to third on a ground out, before scoring.

The Raiders increased their advantage to 2-0 in the fifth, when Calla Yee (Salinas, CA) scored on Olmstead's single down the left field line. The Skyhawks got one back in the fifth off Colgate starter Kelsey Nordstrom (Salina, KS) when Pineda was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

Nordstrom worked the first five innings, allowing one run while striking out three and walking two. Rowe (1-1) pitched the final two innings, giving up with three hits and two runs.

Albert and Hannah paced Colgate with two hits apiece, while Olmstead, Scott and Yee had one hit apiece.

The Raiders will be idle on Monday, before playing Cleveland State and Yale on Tuesday.