Game 1 |
Game 2
Updated stats
ELMIRA, N.Y. -- Sophomore right-hander
Kelly Kocher continued her dominating pitching for Nazareth Saturday as she tossed a complete game three-hit shutout as the Golden Flyers defeated Elmira, 3-0, in the first game of a softball doubleheader. Elmira came back to win the second game, 4-2.
Nazareth is 6-10 overall and 1-3 in Empire 8 Conference games. The Golden Flyers travel to Stevens Sunday for two more conference games, starting at 1 p.m. Elmira is 7-2 overall and 2-2 in conference games.
Kocher didn't allow a hit until the fourth inning when Elmira' Jacqueline Gibson reached on a two-out single. Megan Werner and Erin Pruess also had singles in the sixth and seventh innings respectively. In between, Kocher was masterful as she struck out 16 to improve her record to 5-3 while lowering her earned run average to 1.38. She has a conference-best 108 strikeouts in 55 innings.
Nazareth scored two runs on three hits in the first inning to take control. Freshman
Casey Mathers had a two-run single to account for both runs. Nazareth added another run in the fourth as Mathers led off with a single and scored on a double by
Ann Schoff.
In the second game, the Soaring Eagles had nine hits off Mathers, who started on the mound for the Golden Flyers. They scored once on a run-scoring single by Gibson in the first and got two more runs in the second on a double by Lauryn DePaul and a sacrifice fly by Werner. Elmira scored again in the third to extend the lead to 4-0 as Gibson doubled and later scored on an infield grounder by Darcy James.
Nazareth scored its two runs in the bottom of the third on the strength of three hits. Schoff led off with a single and moved to third on a double by
Kelley Horbal. Schoff scored on an infield grounder by
Polly Muehlenkamp and Horbal followed home on a single by
Brittany Patenaude.
Nazareth had just three hits thereafter against Elmira starter Katie Hobson, who was aided by double plays in the fifth and sixth innings.