MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. – The Long Island University softball team picked up a pair of wins on Saturday afternoon versus Niagara University and Siena College at the Make it Happen Games at ROC Park. The Sharks downed Niagara, 8-5, before topping Siena, 9-6, in their second game of the day.
In game one versus Niagara, LIU took a 3-0 lead in the second inning on RBI walks by
Priscilla Gillies and
Lily Hinkle, followed by a sac fly by
Devon Medina. Up just one run in the top of the fourth, LIU added three-more runs to take a 6-2 lead and seize control of the game via a three-run home run by
Alyssa Polemeni.
In game two versus Siena, LIU took a 5-0 lead in the second inning. After Polemeni was hit by a pitch,
Hannah Burnett blasted a two-run home run to center field, giving LIU a 2-0 edge. Then, three consecutive walks by
Alyssa Garcia,
Jaedyn Lincoln, and
Gigi Clavel, loaded the bases. The Sharks took a 3-0 lead when Garcia scored from third on a wild pitch.
Moments later with two runners in scoring position, Gillies singled up the middle scoring Lincoln, making it 4-0. Two batters later, Medina skied a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Clavel.
In total, all nine Sharks in the lineup batted in the second, as LIU scored five runs on two hits, no errors, and one runner left of base.
Siena later tied the score, 6-6, after a four-run top of the sixth inning. The victory required late-inning heroics, as LIU pushed across three runs in the bottom half of the frame on a bases load walk by Medina, an RBI groundout by
Jen Rodriguez, and a sac fly by Polemeni, to take a 9-6 lead.
Clavel earned the victory in the circle, pitching 1.2 scoreless innings while allowing just one hit and one walk. She retired the side 1-2-3 in the seventh to seal the victory.
Polemeni went 1-for-4 with four RBI, three runs scored, and two walks across both games on Saturday. Gillies posted a multi-hit day, going 3-for-6 with two RBI, two runs scored, and a walk. Burnett went 2-for-5, with two RBI, two runs scored, and a walk.
LIU returns to action tomorrow in Florida for a pair of contests versus the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga at 9 a.m., followed by another meeting with Niagara at 11:30 a.m.
