Softball Completes Four-Game Sweep Over Coppin State
GAME ONE I GAME TWO
BALTIMORE – Overcoming Coppin State 13-7 and 6-1 Sunday afternoon at CSU Softball Complex, the University at Albany softball team swept the four-game non-conference series with the Eagles. With the pair of victories, the Great Danes improved to 26-11 on the season, while Coppin State fell to 2-25 overall.
“Sometimes you need to just battle through some of the rough spots in the course of the season and win anyway you can,” said Head Coach Chris Cannata. “Today was a day where we didn't really play great softball, but we stayed tough and competed.”
Freshman pitcher Celeste Verdolivo (13-4) earned both wins in the circle, coming out the pen in game one to toss three innings, holding the Eagles to three runs and six hits while striking two. In the nightcap, Verdolivo limited CSU to just a run and seven hits in the complete-game victory.
“Celeste showed a lot of guts pitching almost every inning of the four-game series,” added Cannata. “And we got contributions from every single person on the team in some way or another. We need to rest and recoup this week and hopefully get back to full strength for this weekend.”
Offensively, senior Maggie Cocks led the team with four hits and seven RBI in the doubleheader, while junior Liz Snow also logged four hits with a total of four runs batted in, hitting for the cycle across the two games.
In game one, the Great Danes fell behind initially in the third inning as the Eagle used two walks and a pair of hits to take a 3-0 lead. In the fourth, they made it 4-0 on a sacrifice fly, but UAlbany took it from there.
The Great Danes scored nine straight runs – three in the fifth and six in the sixth – for a 9-4 advantage. In the fifth, freshman Chelsea Henige knocked an RBI double, scoring freshman Sarah Petzold, and Cocks followed with a two-out two-run scoring double to cut the margin to one. In the sixth, UAlbany batted around the order, using three walks and four hits to take the lead for good. With the bases loaded, sophomore Donna Conrad drew an RBI walk, senior Kelly Costello lined a two-run double to right-center, and Cocks belted a two-run triple and scored on an error.
Coppin State got one run back in the bottom of the sixth, but UAlbany answered with four more runs in the top of the seventh. To start the frame, Lindsey Haskell drew a walk and Petzold blasted a two-run homer over the right field fence. Conrad doubled, Costello walked, and Cocks' recorded her fifth RBI of the game with a sacrifice fly to left. Snow capped the inning with a run-scoring double through the left side.
Trailing 13-5, the Eagles managed a pair of runs in their final at-bats, but Verdolivo logged back-to-back strikeouts to end the game.
The Danes totaled 13 hits as a squad led with Conrad, Cocks, Snow, and freshman Jennie Polak who each recorded two.
In the nightcap, UAlbany struck first in the opening frame on Snow's two-run home run over the left field wall.
The Great Danes took a 3-0 lead in the third on Cocks' sac fly to left that plated junior Kayla Bailey.
Coppin State scored its lone run of the ballgame in the bottom of the fourth, stringing together a double and an RBI single, making the score 3-1.
However, UAlbany tacked on three unearned runs in the fifth for a 6-1 advantage. Bailey reached on an error, stole second, and scored on Cocks' two-out single to center. Snow completed the hitting cycle with an RBI triple and then scored on a wild pitch.
Cocks and Snow both went 2-for-3, as UAlbany totaled five hits in the contest.
Up next, the Great Danes travel for a make-up game at Bryant on Tuesday at 3 p.m. before returning home for a key conference series vs. Maine over the weekend.
