Article written by Patrick Smith, Sports Information Intern

MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – The Morrisville State College softball team took the field for a double-header against North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) opponent SUNY Poly, dropping the first game 9-1 before falling 9-3 in the second game.

Morrisville moves to a 3-15 conference record, 7-27 overall, while the SUNY Poly Wildcats move to 12-4 in NEAC play, and 16-14 overall.

In the first game of today's action, the Mustangs started off early in the first inning when Amanda Labe (Friedensburg, Pa.) led off the game with a double to left field. Following a sac bunt by Elizabeth Miller (East Greenbush, N.Y.) that moved Labe to third, Holly Gamlen (Cazenovia, N.Y.) hit a pop-up to center field that was deep enough to score Labe from third that proved to be Morrisville's only run on the day.

SUNY Poly score two runs in the top of the second, four in the top of the fourth, and added three more in the top of the fifth to push the lead to 9-1, which would hold up as the game ended in five innings.

Labe was the lone Mustang to collect a hit on the day, by going 2-2 from the plate and scoring Morrisville's only run. Gamlen picked up an RBI in the loss.

Brittany Keator (Roxbury, N.Y.) picked up the loss on the mound for the Mustangs, giving up nine runs off of seven hits, and had three strikeouts.  Fallon Reinold picked up the win for the Wildcats by giving up one run off of two hits, and had five strikeouts.

In the second game of today's action, SUNY Poly started things off with a run scored in the top of the first inning.  The Mustangs would respond when Gamlen hit  a single to left field that scored Labe, who got on base by an error and stole two bases to put herself on third base.

Elizabeth Marr (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) followed that up with sacrifice bunt to second base that scored Miller to push the lead to 2-1 in favor of the Mustangs.

SUNY Poly would retake the lead in the top of the third and continue pushing across runs until the score was 8-2 going into the bottom of the fifth. Marr again used timely hitting to send a single to right field that scored Labe to shrink the lead to 8-3.

Morrisville would threaten in both the bottom of the sixth and the seventh, but were unable to push across any runs.

Marr set the pace for the Mustangs in the game by going 1-2 from the plate, but contributed two RBI's in the game.  Gamlen ended up going 1-4 on the day, adding an RBI of her own.  Labe, Bailey Dillabough (Massena, N.Y.) and Erika Kenney (Duanesburg, N.Y.) each went 1-3 in the game, with Labe scoring two runs.

Allison McGuire picked up the loss on the mound for the Mustangs, giving up four runs off of three hits in four innings, and added two strikeouts.  Hannah Wasco picked up the win on the mound for the Wildcats by giving up three runs on five hits, and added three strikeouts.

The Mustangs will return to their home field on Saturday, April 30 as they finish off their conference season with a double header against SUNY Cobleskill.  First pitch is set of 1 p.m.

Morrisville State College's curricula are enriched with applied learning and pave the way for the opportunity at both the Morrisville and Norwich campuses. An action-oriented, interactive learning lab, the college is a national leader in technology and has been lauded for its exemplary, innovative and effective community service programs.

The college was ranked among the Best Regional Colleges in the North by U.S. News and World Report Best Colleges 2016 issue and was also recognized in the Top Public Schools, Regional Colleges North in the 2016 Best Colleges rankings. For more information about Morrisville State College, visit www.morrisville.edu. 

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