The Knights are off to a 2-1 start early on led by strong pitching from Nicole Schwartz and Lauren Kersch.
In their first competitive games in over a year, the Geneseo women’s softball team is off to a solid start winning two of their first three games. The team swept two games against the University of Rochester with wins of 1-0 and 6-1, while falling to Alfred University 8-1.
Strong pitching and defense were the keys to the victories against Rochester, only giving up one run, seven hits and one error in the two games combined.
In game one against Rochester, senior pitcher Nicole Schwartz dispersed six hits over her complete game shutout victory.
Sophomore infielder Olivia Fazio hit a sacrifice fly to allow sophomore infielder Audrey Minton to score the only run of the game. Minton and Fazio collected the only two hits for Geneseo during the first game.
The second game against Rochester was a masterpiece on the mound from freshman pitcher Lauren Kersch in her first college game. Kersch gave up only one hit on the afternoon, facing one more than the minimum number of hitters.
For her performance against Rochester, Kersch was named the PrestoSports pitcher of the week by the State University of New York Athletic Conference.
Minton and senior outfielder Samantha Seeger each tallied two runs batted in, with Minton hitting her first college home run. Sophomore shortstop Leah VanDerwarker added two hits and two runs to support the Geneseo offense.
Minton was happy with the team’s performance against Rochester and believes team chemistry was a major factor in the Knights’ win.
“After our first double header against U of R, I was really proud of everyone on the team because we looked like a group of girls that have been playing together forever,” Minton said.
After opening the season with two wins against Rochester, Geneseo’s winning streak came to an end with an 8-1 loss against Alfred. Freshman pinch hitter Lauren Gulick drove in senior outfielder Rachel Mihlstin for Geneseo’s only run of the game.
Geneseo will now begin the SUNYAC portion of their schedule when they travel to Brockport for a doubleheader on April 7. Geneseo is coming off a historic last complete season in 2019, with a program best 37 wins and a trip to the NCAA Super Regional.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, several changes to women’s softball will be in place this season. The SUNYAC will be split into eastern and western divisions based on geography. Geneseo will be joined in the west division by Brockport, Buffalo State, Oswego and Fredonia.
Geneseo’s schedule consists of 16 conference and division games against their western division counterparts. The top two seeds from each division will move on to the SUNYAC playoffs for a chance at a SUNYAC title.
In the SUNYAC preseason coach’s poll, Geneseo is ranked as the top team in the western division heading into the season.
Trying to prepare for a season amid the COVID-19 pandemic brought upon its challenges. The limited practice time on the field has been one of the biggest challenges according to VanDerwarker.
“We didn't have much of a fall season, so it was hard to prepare for the spring with the limited amount of time we had on the field,” VanDerwarker said.
Having not played in a college game before this season, VanDerwarker is hoping to gain a starting spot in the lineup this season.
“A goal for myself would be to win a starting position as a sophomore and to help out the team in any way possible whether it is on the field, up to bat or cheering them on in the dugout,” VanDerwarker said.
Both VanDerwarker and Minton say the team's goal is to win the SUNYAC title this season. Despite the challenges heading into the season, they believe the Geneseo women’s softball team can achieve that goal.