Allison Kloft had two RBIs, and Leah VerSchneider added one of her own, but the St. Lawrence University softball team fell victim to strong Ithaca pitching, as the Bombers held the Saints to a total of eight hits total en route to 4-1 and 5-2 wins in Canton, N.Y. on Friday.

The wins push the Saints to a .500 record, both overall and in conference. They sit 4-4 in Liberty League play while holding an 11-11 record entering Saturday's doubleheader.
 

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Game 1: Ithaca 4, St. Lawrence 1

The game shaped up as a pitchers' duel and played out that way over long periods of the contest. St. Lawrence starter Marleigh Monroe and Ithaca starter Mady Rowell traded innings of scoreless softball in the opening two frames, with Monroe sneaking out of a bases-loaded-nobody-out jam in the second without a run against.

In the third, Cate Murray doubled to left-center field, launching a fly ball over the head of Saints centerfielder Caelen Jahnle to score two runs and get Ithaca on the board. They made it 3-0 on a sacrifice fly later in the inning.

The Saints answered in the third with a run of their own, when Allison Kloft smacked an extra-base hit into triple alley in right center and slid into third with an RBI triple on two outs to make it 3-1 Ithaca.

The score remained at 3-1 until the fifth, when the Bombers threatened to extend their lead with back-to-back singles to start the inning, but Maeve Thomspon and Emily Wendt manufactured a double play, killing the early-inning Bomber rally.

Ultimately, the Bombers added an insurance run and held off the Saints with the straight outs in the bottom of the seventh after a Marina Juan single. Rowell got the win for Ithaca, allowing one run and four hits over seven full innings while walking two and striking out six.

Monroe took the loss allowing four runs, three earned, on 12 hits. She also fanned seven and only walked one, tossing her sixth complete game. Offensively, Kloft had the Saints' lone RBI.
 

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Game 2: Ithaca 5, St. Lawrence 2

Ithaca wasted no time in game two, scoring twice in the first inning on RBI singles from Elise Waddington and Isabella Maynard to go up 2-0. The Bombers added another in the third on a Cate Murray RBI double to center to make it 3-0, and St. Lawrence answered immediately in the bottom half when Allison Kloft singled home Emily Wendt with two outs to cut it to 3-1.

Ithaca pushed the lead back out to 5-1 with two more runs in the fourth on a pair of Waddington RBI singles. St. Lawrence got one back in the sixth when Leah Verschneider singled up the middle to score Kloft and make it 5-2, but that was as close as they'd get.

Maddie Collins went the distance for Ithaca, scattering four hits and walking three while striking out nine. Hannah Reardon took the loss, surrendering five runs, two earned, on 10 hits and six walks over five innings. Waddington led the Bombers' offense going 3-for-4 with two RBI, while Kloft was the lone bright spot at the plate for St. Lawrence with an RBI single.


 

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Up Next:

St. Lawrence now turns their attention to another conference twin bill, as they host Union Saturday afternoon for two games at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.