Pioneers Collect 32 Hits in Sweep of Hilbert

The Alfred State softball team collected 32 hits and 21 runs as they closed AMCC regular season play with a sweep of Hilbert. They won the opener 8-4 and held on for a wild 13-12 victory in the nightcap.

The Hawks got on the board first with a pair of runs in the 1st inning of the opener. Krista Lovell (Addison) answered back with a solo homer to lead of the 2nd. Angela Martone (Candor) hit a sac fly to tie it and Sarah Boyce (Cortland) gave Alfred State a 3-2 lead with a single up the middle.

Hilbert scored single runs in the 2nd and 3rd to retake the lead before the Pioneers scored four in the 4th to take the lead for good. Audrey Farrell (York/Notre Dame) tied it with a RBI single to left, Farrell and Boyce executed a double steal to make it 5-4, and Lovell hit a two-run homer to right center to make it 7-4. Martone added an insurance run in the 7th with a two-out single to left.

In the opener, Alfred State collected 17 hits. Martone was 3 for 3 with 2 RBI, Lovell was 3 for 4 with two homers and 3 RBI, Brittany Fisher (Indianapolis, IN) was 3 for 4. Boyce was 3 for 5 with a RBI while Brianna Dittman (Brooklyn/James Madison) and Karlee Stone (Brockport) were each 2 for 4.

Fisher went the distance in the circle. She allowed six hits and three earned runs while walking four and striking out four.

Hilbert plated five runs in the 1st inning of game two to start a wild contest. Dittman hit a RBI single to center in the 2nd to get the Pioneers going. In the 3rd, Boyce scored on a wild pitch, Kailey Wonica (Staten Island/Moore Catholic) hit a RBI groundout, and Lovell hit a solo homer, her third of the day, to make it 5-4.

Hilbert scored an unearned run in the 3rd before Alfred State took the lead for good with five runs in the 5th and four more in the 6th. Fisher and Emma Smithers (Waterloo) hit RBI singles, Dittman drove in a pair with a single, and Smithers scored on a wild pitch in the 5th. In the 6th, Farrell and Wonica collected RBI singles to center, Dittman drew a bases loaded walk, and Martone capped the inning and made it 13-6 with a RBI single to center.

Hilbert didn't go away, they scored two in the 6th and added four more in the 7th to make it 13-12. The tying run was thrown out trying to score for out number two in the 7th and Farrell was able to strike out the next batter to end the game.

The blue & gold collected 15 hits and drew four walks. Farrell led the way with a 3 for 5 day. Lovell was 2 for 2 while Dittman was 2 for 3 with 4 RBI. Boyce, Fisher, and Smithers each collected two hits. Farrell went the whole way on the mound and earned the victory. 

Alfred State is scheduled to wrap up the regular season on Friday when they travel to Houghton for a 3 p.m. doubleheader with the Highlanders.