NORFOLK, Va. – A combined 28 hits over two games gave Siena plenty of offense to sweep a non-conference doubleheader from the Norfolk State softball team on Saturday afternoon at the NSU Softball Field.
The Saints scored four runs in each of the third and fourth innings in the first game for an eventual 10-3 victory. Another four-run second inning in game 2 put Siena ahead, and it never looked back in a 9-2 win.
Three players drove in all 10 runs in the first game for Siena, including Paige Lloyd, who went 3-for-4 with a pair of home runs, two runs scored and three RBI. Sammy Smaldone drove in three, while Abby Carpenter had four RBI as well. Smaldone and Carpenter combined to drive in five runs in the second game.
Siena improved to 2-11 on the year, while NSU dropped to 1-13.
Freshman Megan Przeslawski gave the Spartans the early lead in game 1 when she lofted a single into shallow right field to score junior Heather Dunning. Lloyd homered to open up the third inning, and Carpenter and Smaldone hit back-to-back RBI doubles for a 4-1 lead.
The Spartans answered with two runs in their half of the frame. An error and two walks loaded the bases, and senior first baseman Robyn Mitchell dropped a double down the left field line, just out of reach of all three Siena fielders who gave chase. That scored sophomores Devon Bitler and Kayla McNair, but Carpenter’s three-run homer in the next inning helped Siena jump ahead by an 8-3 score.
Lloyd smacked a two-run homer way beyond the center field fence in the fifth to close out the scoring. Przeslawski had two hits in that first game and joined McNair and Mitchell as the only NSU players with two base hits over the course of the day.
Smaldone’s two-run double in the second inning of game 2 helped put Siena ahead 4-0. The Saints tallied another run in the fourth before NSU got on the board in its half of the inning. McNair doubled and Mitchell singled, and a walk issued to freshman second baseman Seana Moriarty loaded the bases with two outs. Senior catcher Sommer Di Fulgo hit a bloop single to center to plate two runs, but Siena starter Amanda Gatt recorded the next out to prevent any more damage.
Siena manufactured two more runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings for the final scoring on the day.
Gatt (1-4) gave up seven hits and two earned runs while striking out six in six innings of work. Lauren Butts (1-2) struck out seven in five innings of work in the first game to pick up the win.
The two squads will close out the series with a single game on Sunday at 11 a.m.
Spartan Echo 