Panthers Pickup Two More Wins

Panther slugger ToniAnn Licata (above) homered in game one. She was among the many highlights in a doubleheader sweep.

Tie Program Record for Wins in Season

Purchase, NY  – Purchase softball won its 16th and 17th games of the season Tuesday at home, defeating SUNY Cobleskill in both ends of a non-conference twin bill.

Purchase opened with a 13-2 game-one victory and sealed the sweep in a 9-1 win. The Fighting Tigers are now 0-16.

The 17 victories are the most for the Panthers since 2009 and evoke memories of the program's dominance in the Hudson Valley Conference in the early 2000s, when the team won a championship under former coach and now Athletic Director Chris Bisignano. Purchase is now 17-9, tying the program mark for wins (2009) since rejoining the NCAA.
     
The Panthers scored a run in the first inning after opening with a walk and a single. A fielder's choice
by Lisa Kentris (FR/Latham, NY) plated Tara Stiansen (SR/Hampton Bays, NY) for the game's first run.

The Fighting Tigers strung together two hits in the second inning, but the Panther defense made two great plays behind Alonzo. Center fielder Nicole Fortuna (SR/New Rochelle, NY) made a running grab against the sun with runners on second and third to close the inning. The play prior, second baseman Stiansen made a nifty play in the infield to record an out on a fielder's choice.

In the bottom of the second, Purchase pushed across eight runs. Fortuna doubled in Alonzo and started the offensive outburst for the hosts. Stiansen, Kelly Hayes (FR/Staten Island, NY) and Kentris would all have doubles in the inning.

Mary Adams (SR/Milton, PA), Shannon Clancy (SO/Babylon, NY) and Alonzo would also record hits in the frame. Hayes, Kentris, Alonzo, Clancy, Fortuna and Stiansen all recorded RBIs. Hayes, who is leading the conference in hitting, notched two RBIs in the inning to lead the way.

Cobleskill changed pitchers in the third, replacing starter Casey Haughney with Sarah Munn. Purchase scratched across a single run in the inning, scoring an error in the outfield for a 10-0 lead.

The Panthers would tack on three more runs in the fourth, highlighted by a three-run homer by ToniAnn Licata (SR/Mount Kisco, NY). Her blast cleared the left-field fence.

Cobleskill showed its mettle, scoring two runs in the top of the fifth, but reliever Kylia Maddox-Langley (FR/Mount Vernon, NY) settled down and recorded the final three outs.

In game two, both teams started with scoreless innings in the first. Fortuna, who started game two, pitched a one-two-three inning in the top of the second.

In the bottom half of the inning, Clancy led off with a home run – another blast similar to Licata's from game one. The smash handed the Panthers an early 1-0 lead.

April Uhl (JR/Jackson Heights, NY) would follow with a single to center before Fortuna helped her own cause with a double, plating Uhl from first. Stiansen made it 3-0 with an RBI single, scoring Fortuna from third.

The Panthers scored one more run in the inning courtesy of an RBI single from Hayes, but Briana Leon (JR/Glen Cove, NY), who singled earlier, was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.

A sacrifice fly by Alonzo increased the lead to 5-0 in the third.

Purchase scored three more runs in the fourth after Cobleskill scored its lone run on an RBI by Haughney. Two errors in the fourth by the Tigers keyed the three-run inning for the Panthers.

Fortuna pitched a scoreless top of the fifth. In the bottom of the fifth, Adams started with a double, but was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a triple. Alonzo followed with a double, but would end up stranded at third following two fly outs.

After posting another scoreless inning in the top of the sixth, the Panthers sealed the victory in the bottom half on a walk-off single by Kentris, which plated Stiansen for the game winner.

Recap by Purchase's Bobby Ciafardini, SID