Wildcats Win Two to Stay Alive at NEAC Tournament [DAY 2]

Wildcats Win Two to Stay Alive at NEAC Tournament [DAY 2]

COBLESKILL, N.Y. – After a tough defeat to Wilson in their first game of the tournament on Friday, the Wildcats rebounded with a pair of resounding wins on Day 2 of the NEAC Softball Tournament at SUNY Cobleskill. SUNYIT defeated SUNY Cobleskill 9-0 in 5 innings in their first game on Saturday, knocking the hosts out of the tournament, then dispatched with Penn St.-Abington 12-4 in 6 innings in the nightcap.

SUNYIT is set to play tomorrow at noon. They await the loser of Sunday's first game at 10 am, between the #1-seed from the south division – Penn St.-Berks – and the #3-seed from the north division – Keuka. If the Wildcats advance, they will play the champion from the winner's bracket, needing to beat either Penn St.-Berks or Keuka twice.

GAME 1: SUNYIT 9, Cobleskill 0

The Wildcats exploded for 7 runs in the top of the 2nd inning, cruising to a 9-0 win behind 5 innings of scoreless ball by Fallon Reinold (Holland Patent, N.Y. / Holland Patent), who picked up her 11th win of the year.

Reinold was nearly flawless, striking out 9 while giving up just 3 hits.

The Wildcats helped her out on offense, banging out 3 homers and 6 extra base hits, and recorded 13 hits as a team in the 5-inning game.

Amazingly, SUNYIT's three homers all took place in the 7-run 2nd inning. Erika Charbonneau (Boonville, N.Y. / Adirondack) started the inning with a leadoff shot to give SUNYIT a 1-0 lead. Abby Black (Turin, N.Y. / South Lewis) then doubled, and was brought home a batter later by a Leah Segerlin (Webster, N.Y. / Webster Shroeder) single.

Singles by Reinold and Krista Pristera (New Hartford, N.Y. / New Hartford) then loaded the deck for cleanup hitter Jessica Patterelli (Canastota, N.Y. / Canastota), who came through with a 2-out, 3-run homer to put the Wildats up 6-0.

The hit knocked the Cobleskill starting pitcher out of the game. She was replaced by NEAC Pitcher of the Year Erin Wadsworth. Wadsworth's first batter was SUNYIT catcher Danielle Witchley (New Hartford, N.Y. / New Hartford). Witchley showed no signs of intimidation, welcoming the sophomore to the mound by smacking a solo home run to give SUNYIT a 7-0 lead.

An Abby Black flyout ended the inning two batters later, but not before Erika Charbonneau knocked a double to give her an incredible 2-for-2 with a home run and a double in the same inning.

While Wadsworth surrendered just 2 more runs the rest of the way for Cobleskill, the damage had already been done as SUNYIT finished out the 9-0 victory in 5 innings.

Patterelli finished the game 2-for-3 with a homer and 3 RBI's, while Pristera finished 2-for-3 with 2 RBI's. Segerlin came up big out of the 9-spot for the Wildcats as well, going 2-for-2 with 2 RBI's and a triple.

GAME 2: SUNYIT 12, Penn St.-Abington 4

Despite playing the South Division's Penn St.-Abington Nittany Lions for the first time, the Wildcat bats showed no signs of cooling off in the nightcap. Once again SUNYIT jumped ahead early, scoring 4 runs in the top of the first inning on 6 hits and an error. Reinold and Kierston Albertson (Kirkville, N.Y. / East Syracuse Minoa) each singled to start the inning, with Reinold scoring on an RBI single by Pristera. Patterelli then went yard for the second straight game, cranking her second 3-run homer of the day.

The Nittany Lions didn't go away without a fight, however, answering with 3 runs of their own in the bottom of the first. Penn St.-Abington got to Reinold on back-to-back homers by their 3- and 4-spot hitters. Reinold settled down after that, however, getting out of the inning then turning around in the top of the 2nd and leading off the inning with a solo home run of her own. The hit started a rally for the Wildcats, who scored 5 runs on the inning on 4 hits and an error, taking a 9-3 lead.

It would be more than enough, as Reinold surrendered just 1 run the rest of the way, picking up her 2nd win of the day, 12th win of the year, and incredibly her 11th win in a row.

Patterelli finished the day an outrageous 5-for-7 with 2 homers and 7 RBI's to lead the Wildcats, but the lineup was excellent top to bottom on a day that saw SUNYIT score 19 runs in just 11 innings.

Tournament updates for tomorrow can be found at SUNY Cobleskill's Tournament website at the following link:

http://fightingtigers.cobleskill.edu/sports/2014/4/30/SB_0430144700.aspx?path=softball

and on Twitter: @FightingTigers_