Cascio’s Walk-Off Hit Wins Series Finale for Softball
HAMILTON — First-year Mia Cascio delivered a walk-off two-run single to cap Colgate Softball's weekend with a 9-8 eight-inning victory over Lehigh on Sunday afternoon. The Raiders dropped a 9-2 decision to the Mountain Hawks in the opening game of the doubleheader.
One big hit after another, Quinn Livesay went 4-for-7 in Sunday's doubleheader. Amanda DeSantis finished with three hits and a run scored, while Casco delivered the heroics to cap a two-hit, three-RBI day. Analisa Raffaelli drilled two homers and led the team with four RBIs over the two games.
COACH LAMISON-MYERS' COMMENTS
"I can't say enough about the fight in this team. Being up by three and letting them crawl back into the game and even take the lead could have knocked us out but we kept fighting. So many great at bats today and Cascio with the walk off single to clinch the game was just incredible."
Game 1 | Lehigh 9, Colgate 2
- DeSantis had three hits in the opener, and her bunt single in the second scored Cascio to tie the game at 1-1. DeSantis caught Lehigh off guard with the perfectly placed bunt toward the third base side of the circle, allowing Cascio to race home from second.
- Lehigh went on to score seven unanswered runs, with three in the fourth and four in the fifth, to blow the game open. Kelly Fricker capped the scoring with a three-run double to extend the Mountain Hawks' lead to 8-1 in the top of the fifth.
- Herbst drilled an RBI double down the left field line in the fifth, scoring Claire Whalen to cut the deficit to 8-2, but Lehigh answered with a run in the sixth to seal the 9-2 victory.
Game 2 | Colgate 9, Lehigh 8 (8)
- Lehigh scored two runs in each of the last two innings to take a 7-6 lead after trailing 6-3 through the middle stages of the game. Wrigley Fanter had the big hit for Lehigh, a two-out two-run double to give the visitors a 7-6 advantage in the seventh.
- Colgate staged its own rally in the home half of the seventh. DeSantis sent a groundball up the middle, where Julia Mrochko stepped on second to get the forceout but sailed the throw to first in an attempt for a game-ending double play. Mia Edwards, who pinch ran for Lily Haluska after a leadoff walk, raced home to send the game to extras tied at 7-7.
- The Mountain Hawks plated a run in the top of the eighth but stranded the bases loaded – which would prove costly as Colgate came through with more clutch hitting in the home half.
- Herbst doubled down the left field line before Livesay ripped a single up the middle. She advanced on a groundout to put runners on second and third. Cascio came through this time, yanking a hard line drive through the left side of the infield. Lehigh's left fielder came up throwing, but Makenna Heselton slid under the tag at the plate for the winning run as the Raiders completed the comeback in walk-off fashion, 9-8.
- Raffaelli cranked a three-run homer in a five-run home half of the third inning. In her next at-bat, the first-year drilled her third home run of the series to extend Colgate's lead to 6-3.
- Maya Servedio was cruising through the fifth before running into trouble in the sixth. After conceding two runs to close the game to 6-5, Mikala Ham came in for relief and nabbed the final out of the inning to maintain the one-run lead, which didn't hold in the seventh.
UP NEXT
Colgate is scheduled to host Syracuse on Wednesday for a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m.
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