CLERMONT, Fla. – The Concordia College New York softball pitching staff of junior MacKenna Powell (Milford, Pa.), sophomore Ashley Walsh (Scranton, Pa.) and freshman Madison Shura (Wallingford, Conn.) limited St. Thomas Aquinas and Urbana University to one combined run over a doubleheader on Saturday morning with senior outfielder Yeisy Cruz (Bronx, N.Y.), freshman second baseman Ellen Little (Port Deposit, Md.) and freshman left fielder Jordan Bordonaro (Lake Grove, N.Y.) all contributing three hits to lead the Clippers to a sweep on the final day of its spring break trip in Clermont, Fla. via a 3-1 win over STAC and 9-0 run-rule triumph over the Blue Knights.
NOTES
• Concordia improves to 4-4
• STAC falls to 1-3
• Urbana falls to 0-9.
STANDOUT PERFORMERS (GAME 1)
• Bordonaro went 2-3 with two runs scored.
• Freshman first baseman Ashdon Clark (Gouldsboro, Pa.) went 1-2 with two RBI and a walk.
• Freshman catcher Carly Berezny (Oxford, N.J.) went 1-3 with a RBI.
• Walsh allowed one run off five hits with two strikeouts in 6.0 innings in the winning effort.
• Shura tossed a scoreless seventh inning for the save.
• For STAC, Me'0Lani Kendle went 2-4 with a run scored.
HOW IT HAPPENED (GAME 1)
• Leading off the bottom of the first with a single, Bordonaro scored the opening run of the game off a Berezny single.
• Concordia got senior center fielder Audrey Gardus (Carbondale, Pa.) and Bordonaro on base with no outs in the bottom of the fifth via a walk and single, with a double from Clark platting both Clippers to create a 3-0 lead.
• STAC loaded the bases with one out in the top of the sixth off back-to-back singles from Kendle and Ashley Landolina plus a Morgan Santora walk, but were only to score one run from a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE (GAME 1)
• Concordia tallied six hits while the Spartans had five.
• The Clippers left five runner on base, St. Thomas Aquinas stranded six.
• Neither side committed an error.
STANDOUT PERFORMERS (GAME 2)
• Gardus went 2-2 with a triple, three RBI, one run scored, one walk and a stolen base.
• Little went 2-2 with a double, two runs scored, two RBI and a stolen base.
• Cruz went 2-3 with a triple, two run scored and one RBI.
• Sophomore third baseman Carly Acuña (North Hills, Calif.) went 0-1 with two runs scored and a walk.
• On the mound, junior Powell tossed five scoreless innings with four strikeouts.
• For Urbana, Erin Gardner and Kayleigh Pate both went 1-3 with a double.
HOW IT HAPPENED (GAME 2)
• Concordia began the top of the third with three-straight singles from Gardus, Bordonaro and Little to score the senior, while a groundout from Berezny allowed Little to touch home plate and create a 2-0 score.
• The Clippers loaded the bases with no outs off back-to-back walks and a Cruz single, using a bases-clearing triple from Gardus and a Little double with Little also scoring to extend the separation to 7-0.
• Cruz added to Concordia's lead with a one-out triple to score Acuña, touching home plate on a senior right fielder Allison Beltz (Whitehall, Pa.) groundout to create the final score.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE (GAME 2)
• Concordia tallied seven hits while the Knights had five.
• The Clippers left three runners on base, Urbana stranded five.
• Concordia committed two errors while Urbana committed three.
UP NEXT
The softball team begins Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) play on Saturday, Mar. 16 with a doubleheader at the University of the Sciences with first pitch scheduled for noon.
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