TROY, N.Y. - The Southern Vermont College softball team kicked off its 2009 season with a doubleheader on the road against non-conference foe The Sage Colleges dropping both games 13-5 and 10-7. Lead-off hitter Kayla Whitman (Bennington, Vt.) stole home three times on the day and ended the afternoon with 10 stolen bases.
The Mountaineers (0-2) started with Whitman walk and after stealing two bases she stole home to give SVC a 1-0 lead over the Gators (1-9) of Troy. Allison Bishop, who went 3-for-4 with four RBI's in game one, did not waste anytime smashing a double over the Southern Vermont infield to get things going for the gators. Maria Pasquerelli had one of her two hits on the day with another Sage double to tie the game up at 1-1.
Pasquerelli scored when Jennifer Ahearn hit yet another double to give The Sage Colleges a 2-1 lead. A Megan Welcome double and a Jessica Myers single gave the Gators a 4-1 cushion coming out of a very exciting first inning.
After a scoreless second for the Mountaineers Sage went back to work when Pasquerelli (2-for-4, two RBI's) doubled in Kellie Jones who had reached on an SVC error. Ahearn tripled in the 6th Gators run to give them a 6-1 lead over Southern Vermont after two innings.
In the third the Mountaineers scored a run when Whitman had an instant replay from the first inning walking and stealing her way to home plate. The Sage Colleges added two more runs in the third and one in the fourth to give them a 9-2 lead over SVC going into the final inning.
Leigh Meola (Hackettstown, N.J.) walked to start a SVC comeback in the fifth. Next up Krystal Poulan (Cheshire, Mass.) got a free pass after being hit by a pitch from Gator Sara Rysedorph. The bases were loaded after Whitman walked for the third time. After a Mountaineer strikeout shortstop Amy Balawender (Adams, Mass.) smashed a two RBI double. Now on third base Whitman stole home for the third time keeping Southern Vermont within four (9-5).
Sage scored four more runs on four hits in their final time to the plate making the final score of game one 13-5 in the Gators favor. Rysedorph got the complete game win striking out two and walking seven in five innings. Captain Danielle Tischer (Salem, Conn.) picked up the loss in the opener for the Mountaineers.
In game two of the doubleheader started out with a scoreless first for both squads. In the second Whitman (1-for-3) came up with the bases load to walk in the first run on the game. A two RBI sacrifice fly from Poulen brought the SVC lead to 3-0. Whitman stole third and home to make the score 4-0 in Southern Vermont's favor.
Rysedorph got an RBI double putting the Gators on the board 4-1. After an SVC error, and a few hits Myers stole home to give Sage a lead 5-4 going into the third inning.
After a scoreless third the Mountaineers pecked away at the Gators lead tying it up at five with a Balawender (1-for-2, two walks) RBI single.
Tischer took over the pitching for the Mountaineers letting up three runs on three hits to give Sage an 8-5 lead going into the fifth. SVC's Cala Colvin (Hoosick Falls, N.Y.) had an RBI single to bring the Mountaineers within two runs. Colvin hit 2-for-4 in game two.
Jaime Handford had an RBI single and stole home in the fifth inning to give the Gators a 10-6 cushion going into the final innings. Southern Vermont could only score one more run in the game giving Sage a 10-7 win over Mountaineers.
Kristen Knights recorded the win for the Gators as Whitman took the loss for SVC.