ELISHA VALLADARES-CORMIER
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
The Lady Baron softball team came back to win their second game of their doubleheader 8-7 against conference opponent Medaille College, after losing their first game 8-1 in the AMCC Game of the Week.
In a tightly contested match that featured great defense and timely hits from both teams, the Lady Barons were able to hold on to their lead while fending off several Maverick advances.
The game did not start promisingly for the Lady Barons, as Medaille carried over the momentum from their blowout win in the first game and loaded the bases in the first inning. But freshman Jayln Effertz (3-0), toeing the rubber for third time this season, wiggled out of the jam by striking out Bridget Masiello swinging to end the inning.
Shortstop Denise Carrazco scored in the bottom half of the inning on Ashley Kondracki’s single, and the Lady Barons picked up two more runs in the second after centerfielder Lindsey Finch and Carrazco scored separately on throwing errors by the Maverick catcher Lauren Kocher, both times after the players stole third base.
Kocher redeemed herself in the next inning, when she sent a towering shot over the left field fence for a three-run home run to tie the game up 3-3. The teams didn’t remain deadlocked for long, however, as the Lady Barons scored three when centerfielder Finch launched a three-run shot of her own to give the home squad a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Medaille responded in the fourth and scored a run after a pair of defensive miscues led to Morgan Ziemba scoring from first base, making it a 6-4 ballgame. But the Mavericks didn’t perform too well defensively in the bottom half of the inning, and after a couple errors of their own, Kondracki lined a single to left to score two, pushing the score to 8-4.
Both teams were held scoreless in the fifth, but Baron fans had to hold on to their breath in the sixth as the Mavericks scored three in the inning, bringing them within one.
That was all Medaille was going to get, as Effertz set them down quietly in the seventh to seal the complete game and her third victory of the season.
As of April 23, the Lady Barons are 7-7 in conference play. Their next home game will be April 26, a conference doubleheader vs. Penn St.–Altoona.