Bronx, NY | With a chance to lock up the No. 2 seed in the upcoming CUNYAC Postseason Championship Tournament the College of Staten Island softball program did just that this evening, storming past Lehman College in what was the CUNYAC and regular season finale for both schools. The Dolphins won the opener, 7-0, and coasted to a five-inning, 15-0, win in the second game of the doubleheader. With the wins, CSI leveled to 15-15 overall this season, and finish at 10-2 in CUNYAC play, earning what will be the CUNYAC’s No. 2 seed in the upcoming double-elimination tournament that will take place this weekend at CSI. Lehman fell to 13-18, 8-4, respectively, and will finalize as the No. 3 seed in the four-team tourney this weekend.
GAME ONE – STATEN ISLAND 7, LEHMAN 0
CSI didn’t require a lot of offense in this one, as they got a superior performance from freshman Jaclyn Kateridge in the circle to lift the Dolphins to the shutout win.
Before Kateridge would take the circle, however, she was staked a 1-0 lead without the benefits of a hit. Lehman starter Tiffany Adames started the game by walking Antoinette Galbo, and after stealing second, she would advance to third on a wild pitch and then score on an error by the catcher. Adames would retire the side from there, but CSI had a lead it would never relinquish.
Kateridge would allow a first-inning hit but that’s all, and then got through a 1-2-3 second frame before CSI would erupt for four runs on six hits in the third inning, breaking the game open. An infield hit by Patricia Riches would score two runs, and then Riches would come in later in the inning on a Samantha MacPherson sac fly. Alison Meagher then poked a base hit RBI to plate Jaclyn Kateridge who earned on via an infield hit as well, making the count, 5-0.
Kateridge did not allow a hit in the third and fourth frames, and then in the fifth got great help defensively to get out of a bases loaded with no one out jam. Stephany Cruz bounced one back to Kateridge that she would fire home for the first out, and then Riches would hook up with MacPherson on a double play to end the threat.
For extra emphasis, CSI added two runs in the sixth, the first on a home run by Claudia Porcaro, her team-best fourth of the season. Riches would then triple in Christina Cerverizzo to make a 7-0 ball game.
That was good enough for Kateridge, who allowed a pair of runners in the final two innings but preserved the shutout for her fifth win of the season.
The final line for Kateridge was seven full innings, allowing just four hits while walking one and fanning eight. Adames took the loss, allowing seven runs (six earned) on 12 hits, walking three.
Riches finished 2-3 at the place with three RBI, while Cerverizzo went 2-3 with a pair of RBI. Kateridge, Meagher, and Porcaro also added two hits apiece.
GAME TWO – STATEN ISLAND 15, LEHMAN 0
CSI got off to an early lead in the first game, but it was nothing like the lead that they staked themselves to in the second, as CSI plated seven runs on six hits in the game’s first inning.
Riches continued her hot hand by taking LC starter Diamond Villegas deep, powering a two-run homer that scored Galbo, who started the game off with a four-pitch walk. Later, with two outs and runners at second and third, Porcaro would triple to right-center, scoring both to make it 4-0. Alexa Venditti promptly plated Porcaro with a seeing-eye single. At third base later, Venditti would score on a wild pitch, and then Cerverizzo would score on another that was ball four to Galbo, making it 7-0.
The Dolphins then gave the ball over to Alison Meagher as the starter and she was able to register a 1-2-3 inning, setting the stage for another big inning in the second. It was Porcaro again who staged the damage, hitting her second home run of the day, this one a three-run shot that scored Meagher and MacPherson to make it 10-0.
As Meagher stayed sharp in the circle, CSI would make it 12-0 in the third when Riches joined the home run party, and launched a two-run shot to center field. That would chace Villegas for Adames again, but CSI would add another run in the fourth via error, and another pair in the fifth via a home run by Sierra Kaplanek that scored Galbo, who scored a total of three times.
Meagher would close the game out in the fifth to give CSI the win by mercy-rule, 15-0. Meagher gave up just two hits in the game, both in the final inning, fanning three. Villegas took the loss, allowing 12 earned runs in 2.1 innings, allowing 10 hits, fanning three and walking three. CSI out-hit Lehman, 15-2, with Porcaro leading the way, going 3-3 with five RBI and a pair of runs scored.
The CUNYAC Postseason Championship Tournament will begin on Friday, May 3, at the CSI Softball Complex. Top-seeded Hunter College will intro play against No. 4 John Jay College at 11:00am, and then No. 2 CSI will take on No. 3 Lehman at 1:15pm. The two losing teams from the first two games will then play at 3:30pm in the first elimination game of the tournament, while the two winners end Day 1 with a head-to-head matchup at 5:45pm.
