Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Purple Eagles softball team dropped the first game of its six-game road stand to the Akron Zips, taking an early 1-0 lead in the first inning before Akron came back to secure a 3-1 win. In the second game of the day, Niagara trailed 3-0 but rallied to draw within one at 3-2 after five full innings. The Zips picked up an insurance run in the top of the sixth to take the 4-2 win to wrap up the action Wednesday afternoon at Niagara Field.
 
In the second game of the doubleheader, redshirt junior Bridget Hogan hit her team-best 15th double of the season, tying the program's single-season record for doubles in a season. She ties Kelly Cruttenden (1998) and Teresa Healy (2011) who each matched the mark of 15 doubles in a season.
 
Hogan, Maria Gabriele, and Jerri Ann Orfano all picked up three hits for Niagara (15-21, 6-6 MAAC) in the doubleheader. Hogan and Orfano had one double each, while Kendall Watkins extending her Niagara team lead in home runs to six.
 
Akron 3, Niagara 1 (Game One)

• After a leadoff single for the Zips, Kendall Watkins picked up three straight outs at second base to put Niagara up to bat. With two outs in the bottom of the first, Chanelle Ward scored from second on a single to right field from Jerri Ann Orfano, opening the score for the Purple Eagles.
• Akron went three up, three down against Jennifer Szilagyi and the Niagara defense in the top of the second. Niagara put runners on first and second but could not extend the lead in the bottom of the inning.
• Both pitching staffs controlled the middle innings as Akron and Niagara picked up three hits between the third and fifth innings, and Szilagyi helped the Purple Eagles hold the early 1-0 lead through five innings.
• The Zips broke through in the top of the sixth and took their first lead of the afternoon. Akron put runners on second and third with no outs, and Savannah Fruin brought both runners home with a deep double into right field, but was thrown out attempting to take third on the play. Rachel Funk caught an Akron runner stealing before the Niagara defense picked up the final out to hold the deficit to one.
• Niagara led off the bottom of the sixth with singles from Taylor Moody and Maria Gabriele. Pinch hitter Brianna Clark ripped a base hit into the right field gap, but Akron threw out Moody at home plate to hold the lead.
• Sarah Trifoso followed Clark with yet another Niagara single, but with the bases loaded and one out on the board, Sarah March grounded into a double play at second base as Akron held on to the late advantage.
• After Akron pushed the lead to 3-1 in the top of the seventh, Niagara put runners on first and second but could not even the score, dropping the first game of the doubleheader.

 
Akron 4, Niagara 2 (Game Two)

• Niagara loaded the bases in the bottom of the first inning, as Sarah March led off the game with a walk and Bridget Hogan and Jerri Ann Orfano singled in consecutive at-bats. However, Akron would pick up two strikeouts in a row to close the inning.
• Akron took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second on a one-out RBI single to left field, and the Zips sent Niagara three up, three down in the bottom of the inning.
• After the Zips made it a 3-0 game with a two-run home run in the top of the fourth, Kendall Watkins led off the bottom of the inning with her team-best sixth homer of the season, a solo shot over the left field wall.
• In the bottom of the fifth, Niagara put runners on first and third, and Sarah March scored to make it a 3-2 game on a passed ball.
• Akron would reestablish the two-run lead with a double into the left field gap in the top of the sixth, and the Purple Eagles were held without a hit the rest of the way as the Zips held on for the 4-2 win.

 
Up Next

• With inclement weather expected on Sunday, Niagara's doubleheader for that day against the Marist Red Foxes has been rescheduled for Friday, April 28 at 2 p.m.
• Niagara will continue the weekend's MAAC play with a 12 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday, April 29 against the Quinnipiac Bobcats.

 
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