The women's softball team went 6-2 over a hectic stretch this week, sweeping doubleheaders against SUNY Potsdam and the Rochester Institute of Technology and splitting twinbills against SUNY Plattsburgh and Medaille College.
The week's activity began last Friday at Potsdam, a team that provided no trouble for the Knights. Geneseo handily defeated the Bears, 5-1 and 12-1 behind stellar pitching performances from junior Janine Montera and sophomore Mary Bostwick, respectively. Neither pitcher allowed an earned run.
Saturday's action against the Plattsburgh Cardinals was more closely contested. Trailing 2-1 entering the seventh inning, the Knights plated freshman Stefanie Rosenberg with two outs after a single by senior Bree Crossett and a Plattsburgh error. The tie held until the bottom of the ninth inning, when Plattsburgh tripled home the winning run off of Montera for the win.
"We were head-to-head with them the whole game, it was pretty much a pitcher's duel," said senior Karen Wagner. "The cards basically just fell for [Plattsburgh] in the ninth inning … If we were [at] home it might have happened for us that way, but luckily for them they were at home."
Geneseo fared better in the second game of the doubleheader, winning 9-3 behind a complete game from Bostwick and a three-run home run by junior Megan Pogemiller.
"It kind of felt better to come back in the second game and just really give it to them," Wagner said.
The Knights' road trip continued on Tuesday in Buffalo, where Geneseo split a doubleheader against Medaille College 6-4 and 1-8. Rosenberg reached base all four times as the leadoff hitter in the first game, in which junior Sam Guarrera drove in two runs. Bostwick struck out seven in the complete-game win.
The second game, however, was a Medaille blowout. Sophomore Kelsey Ogden's RBI single in the first inning was the first and only run the Knights would score in the contest. Geneseo made five errors and allowed five unearned runs in the loss.
On Wednesday, the Knights finally returned home, sweeping RIT 1-0 and 9-1. Montera paced the Knights in the opener, keeping the Tigers at bay by allowing just one walk and three hits. Freshman Jess Steubing drove in the lone run of the game at the bottom of the sixth inning.
The second game was a different story. Senior Katie Holm drove in three runs and freshman Katie Gallagher notched her first career win, allowing just two hits in seven innings of work.
The Knights have a SUNYAC doubleheader at home this weekend: on Friday at 3 p.m. against SUNY Oneonta, and Saturday at 1 p.m. versus SUNY New Paltz.
Beyond that, Geneseo is eager for the SUNYAC playoffs. "We've been told by a lot of different SUNY teams that we're not the team that they want to see in SUNYACs," Wagner said. "We're hitting the ball so well, I'm really expecting a big outcome … I really can't wait to see what happens, because no team wants to play us."