Yellowjacket sophomore pitcher Beth Ameno continued to dominate with strong pitching as the team played .500 softball last week, splitting doubleheaders against St. John Fisher College and Rochester Institute of Technology.
Last Friday, the ‘Jackets hosted RIT, falling to the Tigers in game one, 5-2, but coming away with the win in game two, 6-5.
In game one, the ‘Jackets started scoring in the first inning. Senior Jena Robertson singled, swiped second base, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single by junior Jessica Sorrentino.
In the fourth inning, sophomore Megan Winn and junior Andrea LaRocque had back-to-back doubles, allowing Winn to score the second run of the game for UR. Robertson started the game for UR, pitching four innings, giving up five hits, three runs (one earned), walking two batters and striking out four. Junior Carly Hoffend relieved Robertson, going three innings, giving up six hits and two earned runs while striking out three. Robertson, Sorrentino, Winn and LaRocque each had two hits.
The ‘Jackets took the field in game two of the doubleheader behind the strong pitching of Ameno. She pitched her fourth complete game of the season, going seven innings. She gave up eight hits and five runs (one earned), while walking one and striking out a season-high 11 batters.
The ‘Jackets took an early lead in the bottom of the second inning. Citro led off with a double, going to third base on a single by LaRocque. LaRocque stole second base and advanced to third on a single by Ameno, with Citro scoring the first run. Following that, sophomore Brittany Celeste singled in LaRocque for UR’s second run, with Ameno going to second. Then Sorrentino singled, moving Celeste to second base. The next batter, Carr, was hit by a pitch, advancing Sorrentino to second and Celeste to third. Robertson walked, forcing in Celeste as the third run of the inning. Sorrentino scored the fourth run of the inning on a throwing error by the RIT catcher.
The ‘Jackets scored their last two runs of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning. Carr led off the inning with a walk, advancing to second on a single by Robertson. The base runners moved up on a passed ball. Winn singled in Carr, with Robertson moving to third. Robertson scored the second run of the inning on an RIT error.
Sorrentino, Robertson, Winn and Celeste each had two hits in the game, contributing to a team total of 11 hits.
On Thursday, UR played at St. John Fisher, splitting a doubleheader. UR out-pitched Fisher, taking the first game by a score of 3-1. Fisher won the nightcap of the match-up, 3-2.
In game one, the ‘Jackets brought out the big bats, scoring all three runs on solo home runs. In the second inning, Citro hit one out. Then, in the fourth inning, it was a senior showcase, with Carr and Robertson hitting back-to-back home runs for the final two runs. Ameno started the game, no-hitting Fisher for 4.1 innings and striking out eight batters. Hoffend came in to pitch the last 2.2 innings, giving up three hits and one unearned run while striking out one.
In the nightcap, Hoffend started the game for the Yellowjackets. She had a strong performance, pitching four innings for UR. She gave up one hit, one run, one walk and struck out three batters. Ameno followed to pitch the final two innings. She struck out three, giving up one hit, two earned runs and one walk. Carr led the team in hitting with a single and a double. Sorrentino hit a solo home run to lead off the first inning; her team-leading fifth of the season accounted for the only run of the game for UR.
The Yellowjackets continued to earn Liberty League honors this past Monday, with awards for performer of the week and pitcher of the week for the week of April 2.
Robertson was named Liberty League Co-Performer of the Week for the second week of the season. Over the course of four games, she hit .545, going six for 11 with two doubles and a home run. She had two RBIs and scored four runs. On the diamond, she had four putouts and 11 assists. Robertson leads the team with a .429 batting average, a .714 slugging percentage, an on base percentage of .481, 21 hits and is tied with nine RBIs.
Ameno was named Liberty League Co-Pitcher of the Week for her second week this season. She won both games she started last week. She had an ERA of 1.58 over 13.1 innings, allowing nine hits and seven runs (three earned), while walking only two and striking out 22 batters. She held opponents to a meager .188 batting average. Ameno leads the team with an ERA of 1.63, opposing batting average of .222 and is tied for wins with four. She also leads the team with 47.1 innings pitched and 53 strike outs.
The team plays Medaille College away at 3 p.m. on Friday.
Levy is a member of the class of 2008.
