Fredonia State senior softball players (from left) Maria Caviris, Syd Merkley, Katie Yudin, Amber Piniewski, Eva FitzSimmons, Dee Thomas and Alyssa Piniewski.
Fredonia State hung on for a 3-0 win in the opener and rallied for a 6-5 win in the nightcap of its SUNYAC softball doubleheader with Geneseo on Saturday at Blue Devil Field.
In the opener, Katie Yudin pitched a five-hit shutout and was backed by solid defense and timely hitting. The Blue Devils (6-10 overall, 6-6 SUNYAC) scored all three runs in the fourth inning on RBI singles by Nicole Kumro, Evelyn Webster, and Alyssa Piniewski. Defensively, centerfielder Syd Merkley ran down two drives in the seventh inning, including the final out of the game. She also doubled to lead off the three-run uprising.
Yudin was back in the circle to start Game 2 and wasn't as fortunate. Geneseo's Leah VanDerwarker led off the game with a homer and tripled to lead off the third inning and chase Yudin in favor of Emily Chelius. The Knights added three runs to take a 4-0 lead into the last of the third. That's when the Blue Devils erupted for all six of their runs. Maria Caviris was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to drive in the first run. Piniewski then delivered a two-out RBI single before Marissa Sultana drove a ball deep to center for a three-run double. A single by Amber Piniewski and a Geneseo throwing error brought home the sixth run.
Chelius settled down after the rocky third inning to pick up her second win of the season and complete Fredonia State's first sweep of Geneseo since 2015. It left the Blue Devils two points behind the Knights (9-6 overall, 7-5 SUNYAC) for the second seed from SUNYAC's West Division heading into the SUNYAC playoffs. The Blue Devils will look to stay in the race Sunday when they visit Brockport before closing out the regular season with a doubleheader at home Wednesday vs. Oswego.
