Niagara Softball Defeats Siena, 6-3, in Game Two
MAAC Sports
Poughkeepsie, N.Y. – Fourth-seeded Niagara University earned a 6-3 victory over top-seeded Siena College in game two of the 2013 MAAC Softball Championship, held at Softball Park at Gartland Field on the campus of Marist College.
In a game which began on Thursday, May 9, Niagara scored three runs in the top of the third inning. Becky Zill started things off when she singled up the middle, allowing Brittany Richberg to cross home plate. Zill and Katelyn Gruarin later scored on a single to left field by Alexis Wayne.
The Saints got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth after Shannon Jones ripped a double down the right field line to bring in Melanie Kaleese, and Jones later scored on a single up the middle by Alyssa Lancaster.
The game was suspended at the end of the fifth inning, and play resumed Friday morning at 10 a.m.
Siena tied things up in the sixth when Jessika-Jo Sandrini singled down the left field line to allow Jones to score once more. But Niagara pulled ahead in the seventh inning, as Richberg scored on a bases-loaded walk and Wayne sent a two-RBI single up the middle to bring in Zill and Gruarin.
Niagara’s Jenn Sansano, the 2013 MAAC Pitcher of the Year, improved to 11-11 with the win, striking out 12 batters. Sandrini dropped her record to 15-8 on the season in the circle for Siena.
Niagara will face third-seeded Marist College in game three on Friday, May 10 at 11 a.m. Following that contest will be game four featuring Siena and second-seeded Fairfield University in an elimination game at approximately 1 p.m. The winner of game four and the loser of game three will compete in another elimination game – game five – starting at 3 p.m.