Devils walk off twice to sweep Geneseo
Fredonia did itself one better April 1 in sweeping a SUNYAC doubleheader over Geneseo.
The Blue Devils trailed 5-1 before rallying for a 6-5 win in the first game. They were down by five runs in the second game before coming back for a 10-9 win.
A pinch-hit bases-loaded walk-off single by Lindsey Forness (Allegany, N.Y./Allegany-Limestone) put the finishing touches on the sweep, which propelled the Blue Devils to 5-8 overall and 2-0 to open conference play.
The loss dropped Geneseo to 3-8 overall and 0-2 in the conference.
Fredonia mounted its first of two comebacks with two runs in the last of the sixth inning in Game 1. Cherise Gunnell (Falconer, N.Y./Falconer) singled and Jess Lauck (Buffalo, N.Y./Kenmore West) doubled to get the inning started. Kim Lotocki (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier) and Maggie Paras (Florida, N.Y./S.S. Seward) each followed with RBI singles to cut the Fredonia deficit to 5-3.
The Blue Devils won the game with three runs in the last of the seventh. A single by Alyssa Morgan (Homer, N.Y./Homer) set the stage for two-out dramatics, including a single by Lauck, and an RBI single by Madeline Medina (Hamburg, N.Y./Hamburg). A dropped fly ball on what would have been the game-ending out enabled the tying run to score. Paras then singled for Fredonia's first walk-out hit of the afternoon.
Aldyn Carlson (Dunkirk, N.Y./Dunkirk), a junior transfer, earned her first collegiate win with 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. Lauck had three hits while Morgan, Lotocki, and Paras had two each in Fredonia's 13-hit attack.
Sami Brown had three hits and Kayleigh Blersch two hits for Geneseo.
The Blue Devils fell behind 7-2 before rallying to win the second game. They erased their deficit in one fell swoop with five runs in the last of the fifth. Key hits in the fifth included a two-run double by Lauck and an RBI single by Lotocki, plus table-setting singles by Lauren Pixley (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier) and Gunnell. Another dropped flyball in the Geneseo outfield figured prominently in the scoring.
Both teams scored a pair of runs in the sixth. Geneseo regained the lead 9-7 before the Blue Devils rallied again. Medina got the inning started with a pinch-hit single, followed by an infield single by Kate Nicholson (Heuvelton, N.Y./Heuvelton), and a double to center by Nikki Lent (Yaphank, N.Y./Longwood).
Lent's hit set up a wild play which resulted in two runs scoring and Lent coming all the way around to score the apparent go-ahead run on an overthrow, only to be called out on interference. The umpires ruled Lent's teammates who had come out of the dugout to celebrate got in the way of the Geneseo players trying to chase down the loose ball.
Kelsey Gannett (Endwell, N.Y./Union-Endicott), who had come on in relief of Carlson in the sixth, struck out the side in the top of the seventh. That set the stage for Fredonia's second walk-off win of the day. After Gunnell singled and was thrown out trying to steal second, Lauck delivered a single to center -- her fifth hit of the day to raise her team-leading batting average to .542,
With two outs, walks to Paras and Katelyn Dennis (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) loaded the bases. Forness then lined a two-strike single down the line in left, which touched off a mobbing by her teammates in the middle of the diamond.
Gannett improved to 2-2 with the win while Gunnell led the offense with three hits. Nicholson and Lauck each had two hits, and Lauck finished with three RBI.
Makayla Moore led Geneseo with three hits and four RBI while Courtney Budynas homered.
