Leesburg, FL – The College of Staten Island Softball Team continued their Florida trip this afternoon and earned a split in two closely contested games against Lake Erie College and The College of Saint Rose. The Dolphins won their first game of the day against the Storm by a final score of 5-1 before coming up one run short against the Golden Knights, 4-3. With the 1-1 day, the Dolphins remain at the .500 mark with a record of 3-3. The Storm fell to 4-5 with their loss to the Dolphins and the Golden Knights improved their record to 3-6 with a win over CSI.
GAME 1 VS LAKE ERIE COLLEGE
Both teams threatened multiple times through the first three innings at the plate but failed to score each time. It wasn't until the fourth that the Dolphins finally scored the game's first runs. Four CSI hits and a pair of costly Storm errors helped the Dolphins put up a five-spot and take a commanding lead. This lead remained safe until the seventh inning when Lake Erie put together a rally that ultimately brought the tying run to the plate. Four Storm hits made it 5-1 with two outs in the inning, but Alexandra Frenza struck out Ava Scott with the bases loaded to end the game.
GAME 2 VS THE COLLEGE OF SAINT ROSE
After Mariah Carcano reached on an error to open the game and advanced to third on a wild pitch, the Dolphins plated the games first run on a groundout. The CSI lead didn't last long as a Golden Knights triple tied the game at one in the next half-inning. Soon after, St. Rose drew a throw on an attempted steal of second base which allowed another runner to score from third. Already ahead by one, the Golden Knights scored two more in the second following another Dolphins error. After one run came home on the error, St. Rose induced another rundown on the same play to bring home a second run. The Dolphins went on to pull to within one on a Natalya Knoth pinch-hit two-RBI double, but this was as close as they would get in a 4-3 loss.
Elizabeth Moore and Aileen Balderas had three hits each for the Dolphins in game one and Alexis Miramontes came one out shy of a complete game against the Storm. In game two against the Golden Knights Laila Aponte had two base hits and Balderas reached base three times. However, the Dolphins miscues in the field and on the base paths were too much to overcome in the one-run loss.
The Dolphins return to Sleepy Hollow on Thursday with two more games against Trevecca Nazaren University and Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.