ONEONTA, N.Y. - The Delhi Broncos Softball team (1-7, 0-0 NAC) picked up their first win of the year as first-year Grace Sperry put the exclamation point on a seven-run comeback with a walk-off in game one before falling to the Hartwick Hawks (1-1, 0-0 Empire 8) 6-4 in game two, two highly competitive games on a gorgeous day in early March.
Game One
Hartwick exploded for seven runs in the top of the second inning behind a sleury of base hits, as six different Hawks recorded an RBI to put Delhi down big early. Carolina Watson put the first runs on the board for Delhi in the third as she singled up the middle to bring home Carolina Bernard and Samantha Martin, before a Riley Martin two-run moonshot shrunk the deficit to 7-4.
Shannon Mentz responded with a solo shot in the top of the fifth, and Alicea Seitzinger and Casey O'Connor picked up RBIs to extend Hartwick's lead back to six. An Angelina Dickel single up the middle to score Adrienne Neff sparked a Broncos run in the bottom of the frame, with S. Martin and Watson each joining Dickel in picking up RBIs on singles. Dickel tallied another RBI on a double in the bottom on the sixth, once again scoring Neff to tie the contest entering the seventh inning.
Autumn Millington took back the lead for Hartwick with a two RBI single in the top of the frame, but the Broncos limited the damage to just the two runs as the sides flipped for the final time. Stephanie Huckabee hit a solo home run with one out and Neff and Sperry singled to to score pinch runnners Natalie Amadon and the winning run Kara Fitch, respectively.
Delhi had their best offensive output of the year with 21 hits as a team as Watson led all players with four RBIs, and Dickel, S. Martin and R. Martin recorded two apiece. Neff went 4-5 from the plate and Bernard and Sperry tallied three hits for the Broncos, and Autumn Millington went 4-5 with three RBIs to lead the Hartwick offense.
Dickel picked up the win on the mound for Delhi, as her split-stint consisted of 4.0 innings pitched, giving up nine earned runs and seven hits. Mikayla Wright gave three innings in between Dickel's bookends with three earned runs and seven hits surrendered.
Game Two
While the first matchup offered an offensive slugfest, game two was much more defensive as starting pitchers Alethea Ferrara and Anna Klien gave the Broncos and Hawks solid outings.
Millington followed up her work in the first game by reaching on an error allowing Casey O'Connor to open the scoring in the third, as the Hawks would amount to four total runs in the inning. A Huckabee double in the bottom of the frame that scored Amadon swung the momentum back in the favor of the Broncos, who went on the level the game in the bottom of the fifth on the backs of Cayla Moroni, Jaden Taylor, and R. Martin RBIs, and neither side scored in the sixth for the contest to once again enter the seventh in a draw.
This time things would not shake out in Delhi's favor, as Shelby Swartz and Mihaly Blake socred Seitzinger and Jaiden Beak to give Hartwick a 6-4 advantage and the Broncos went down in order to end the game.
Everyone that batted for Delhi picked up a hit in the loss, with Bernard and Julian Ponce tallying two apiece and Seitzinger going 3-4 for the Hawks.
Ferrara delt 6.1 innings pitched, letting up 12 hits and five earned runs with two strikeouts before Lauren Laferriere came in in relief in the top of the final frame to give .2 innings with only one hit against. Anna Klein went the full seven for Hartwick, conceding four earned runs on 11 hits.
The Broncos are back in action March 25th at 3:00 and 5:00 p.m., when they play host to SUNY Poly.
