Game 1 Box / Game 2 Box

UTICA, N.Y. – Led by a 4 for 8 performance from sophomore Julianne Bass (Costa Mesa, CA/Newport Harbor), the Rensselaer softball team closed out its regular season schedule with a non-conference doubleheader sweep of Utica, winning 6-1 & 8-1 this afternoon. Bass, who had four RBI and a game-best 28 putouts, helped the Red Hawks improve to 24-8 on the season. The Pioneers fall to 15-15 overall.

Battling through two scoreless innings, the Red Hawks jumped onto the scoreboard in the top of the third. An RBI double from junior Beth Gargon (East Hampton, CT/East Hampton) set the stage for Bass, who belted a two-run home run over the wall for a 3-0 RPI advantage. Rensselaer would add three more runs in the fifth inning behind a sacrifice fly from junior Logan Russell (Cranbury, NJ/Princeton) and an RBI single off the bat of freshman Christina Ciccione (Massapequa, NY/Plainedge) made it 6-0 after five.

Despite a run late in the seventh inning, Red Hawks starter Michelle Street (East Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse-Minoa) was outstanding in the circle, allowing just one run on three hits with a walk and 12 strikeouts in seven innings. She is now 11-4 on the season. Sophomore Andrea Curley (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls) picked up the loss for Utica. In seven innings pitched, she surrendered six runs on eight hits with a walk and eight strikeouts to fall to 8-8.

Game two saw freshman Natalie Gendron (Auburn, NH/Manchester Memorial) turn a 1-0 lead into a 4-0 advantage with a three-run home run in the third inning. Bass, who got Rensselaer on the board with an RBI single, added another in the fourth and Russell hit a solo home run in the fifth for a 6-0 lead.

Ciccione sent a two-run shot over the wall in the top of the seventh for the Red Hawks, which saw freshman Michelle Bianchetti (Highland Mills, NY/John S. Burke Catholic) allow just one run on eight hits in seven innings. She also had a walk and two strikeouts. Pioneers sophomore Kallie Mathis (West Leyden, NY/Adirondack) took the loss with eight runs allowed on 13 hits through seven innings.
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