KISSIMMEE, Fla. | The Farmingdale State College softball team is more than halfway through its spring break trip to The Spring Games, with the Rams holding a 2-3 record with four more games scheduled in the Sunshine State.
Sunday, March 12
FSC opened its season with a 9-4 decision over Kenyon (Ohio) College, before suffering a 12-4 setback in five innings to regional mainstay Amherst College.
In the lid-lifting triumph, senior corner infielder Brooke Walker (Hampton Bays, N.Y.) went 2-of-3 with a walk, two doubles and four runs scored, while freshman Samantha Stolfi (Pt. Jefferson Station, N.Y.) started her collegiate career with a 2-for-3 showing with three RBI.
Up 2-1 through 2.5 innings of play, Walker and sophomore outfielder Alyssa Cowen (Garden City South, N.Y.) crossed the plate when Stolfi reached on an infield error, before rookie catcher Lindsay Cahill (Shoreham, N.Y.) drove in junior infielder Angelina Capuano (Sayville, N.Y.) on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third to stretch Farmingdale State's lead to 5-1. The Rams added three more runs in the bottom of the fourth frame, when senior center fielder Priscilla Rivera (Brentwood, N.Y.) scored on an infield pop out before Stolfi's single to center plated Walker and Cowen.
Senior righty Allie Stanya (Manorville, N.Y.) picked up the complete-game victory in the pitcher's circle, allowing nine hits and two earned runs while fanning seven.
Versus Amherst, FSC scratched across two runs apiece in the second and third frames. Cahill and Stanya drove in Capuano and sophomore Ava Shorr (No. Babylon, N.Y.), respectively, on RBI singles in the second inning, while Stanya plated Stolfi and junior right fielder Jenna Giliberti (Bellmore, N.Y.) chased Capuano across the plate one inning later on singles.
Stolfi, Capuano and Stanya each went 2-for-3 at the dish versus the Mammoths, while Giliberti went 2-for-4.
Monday, March 13
Farmingdale State suffered a 6-3 setback to Meredith (N.C.), before its afternoon tilt against Loras (Iowa) was canceled due to inclement weather.
Stolfi collected her third 2-for-3 outing in as many games to date, while Shorr went 1-for-3 from her designated player position.
The Rams opened play in the top of the first with a pair of runs, as Giliberti scampered home on a wild pitch before Stolfi's base-knock to center field scored Rivera.
Meredith went ahead 3-2 in its half of the opening inning, before Stolfi leveled the game at 3-all in the top of the third when her single to left drove in Giliberti.
Giliberti and Rivera both notched one stolen base in the outing.
Tuesday, March 14
FSC fell in eight innings in its opening contest of the afternoon by an 8-7 count to North Park (Ill.), before rebounding to dispatch Southern Maine by a 7-3 margin.
Stolfi (three RBI) and Capuano (two runs) each went 2-for-4 against North Park, while Walker (double, walk) reached base safely twice with a run scored. Shorr (1-for-3), Cahill and Cowen (run) each drove in one run, with Stanya (1-for-4) and Rivera (SB) each scoring a run.
The Rams scored six times in the bottom of the second frame, including three on a gap shot to right-center field by Stolfi, and later sent the game to extra innings in the bottom of the seventh when Shorr's single through the right side scored Capuano and knotted the game at 7-7.
North Park plated one run in the top of the eighth after the international tiebreaker was implemented, but the Rams were unable to drive in a potential tying runner from third base in its half of the inning.
Against the Huskies in the nightcap, Farmingdale State responded in a big way by plating two runs in each of the first three innings on their way to victory. Rivera went 3-for-4 with a double, run and two RBI and as many stolen bases against USM, with Cowen going 2-for-2 with a walk, run and RBI. Giliberti scored two runs and swiped two bags in support of Stanya (1-for-3, RBI), who earned the victory in the circle after scattering seven hits and two walks while striking out four Southern Maine hitters.
In the top of the first, Walker's squeeze bunt drove in Giliberti, before Rivera came home on Stolfi's RBI grounder to short. Rivera turned around one inning later to drive in Cowen and Cahill on her first double of the season, with infield singles one inning later by Stanya and Cowen scoring freshmen Lauren Varagnolo (Centereach, N.Y.) and Alyssa Baez (Queens, N.Y.), respectively, to give the Rams a 6-1 edge.
Giliberti came home on a right-side RBI grounder in the top of the sixth by freshman Christina Rodriguez (Vineland, N.J.) for FSC's seventh run of the game.
Farmingdale State's stay at The Spring Games wraps up with a pair of contests each on Thursday (Hamline, 9 a.m.; Arcadia, 11:30 a.m.) and Saturday (Middlebury, 11:30 a.m.; No. 15 Tufts, 2 p.m.).