Freshman Jennifer Yee was 2-for-4 with two RBI Saturday. |
NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – The Niagara Univeristy softball team (21-17, 3-5) struggled offensively Saturday, losing 1-0 and 7-3 to Fairfield University (29-20-1) in a doubleheader at Niagara Field.
The Purple Eagles collected just seven hits on the day as game one starter for the Stags, Cagney Ringnalda, threw a non-hitter.
Niagara returns to action Sunday when it plays its final home series of the season with a noon doubleheader vs. Iona College.
Fairfield 1, Niagara 0
Cagney Ringnalda threw a no-hitter with three walks and two strikeouts to help Fairfield win the first game.
Fairfield’s game-winning run came in the fifth when Julia Jacoby hit the third of her three doubles in the game to left centerfield to score pinch runner Lisa Meringer from third.
Jacoby was 3-for-3 while Ringnalda and Shannon Logan had the Stags’ other two hits.
Sophomore Tiffany McCrory (Albuquerque, N.M.) thew a five-hitter with four strikeouts.
Niagara 3, Fairfield 7
Fairfield swept the series, winning game two with three early runs.
The Stags chased starting Purple Eagle pitcher Brooke Viola (Los Alamitos, Calif.) from the game when Fairfield’s first three hitters scored.
Freshmen Jennifer Yee (North Delta, B.C.), who was 2-for-4 with two RBI in the game, hit a two-run double to right centerfield to pull within one, 3-2, in the third.
In the fifth inning, Fairfield scored three runs when Tara Hansen singled in pinch runner Caitlyn Bell and the Stags capitalized on back-to-back squeeze plays.
Niagara scored one in the fifth when Yee singled up the middle and classmate Heather Lohrman (Newport Beach, Calif.), who singled to left field to get on, scored on a Fairfield error.
The Stags scored their final run in the seventh when Hansen doubled down the left field line and Erin Frank hit an RBI double to right field.
Frank was 2-for-4 with four RBI and Hansen picked up the win on the mound while going 2-for-3 with three runs scored at the plate.
McCrory, who relieved Viola after four batters, threw a five-hitter with eight strikeouts.
