NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – Niagara extended its win streak over Little Three rival St. Bonaventure to seven games with 4-1 and 6-0 wins over the Bonnies Tuesday afternoon in non-conference softball action on Monteagle Ridge.
How it Happened
Game 1: Niagara 4, St. Bonaventure 1
The Purple and White jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when
Shayna Myshrall lifted a sacrifice fly into left, allowing
Samantha Hare to score, and then later in the inning,
Hailey Cenname singled up the middle to bring home
Brianna Delaney from second.
St. Bonaventure would get one back in the second when Walker homered to left off
Maddie Hickingbottom. Hickingbottom then struck out the next four batters and allowed just two baserunners over through the fifth.
In the bottom of the fifth, Niagara would get a pair of insurance runs as a two-out walk by Delaney, followed by an RBI double from Myshrall, and a Bona error gave the Purple Eagles a 4-1 lead after five.
Hickingbottom would allow a hit in the sixth, her final inning of work, ending the day with 11 strikeouts, while allowing four hits and walking a batter.
Julia Thompson came on in the seventh to seal the win for Niagara.
Niagara Notes
• Hickingbottom earned her 13th win of the season and is two-shy of the matching the Niagara softball single-season program record held by Julie DiMatteo.
• Hickingbottom struck out 11 batters, her second 11-K performance in the last week. She has 149 strikeouts on the season, two away from her career-high.
• Thompson earned her sixth save of the season.
• Cenname recorded two hits in the contest, her ninth multi-hit game of the season.
• Delaney scored a team-best two runs, her sixth game this season with multiple runs scored.
• Myshrall had two RBI, her seventh game with two or more RBIs. The Syracuse, N.Y., native is in a three-way tie for the team lead in runs driven in.
Game 2: Niagara 6, St. Bonaventure 0
Niagara got a stellar start from
Cara Leone in game two as the graduate right-hander didn't allow a baserunner in her 4.1 innings of work while striking out three Bonnies.
The Purple Eagles offense scored all six runs in the bottom of the second, beginning with an RBI double from
Lindsay Mayo, followed by a pair of RBI singles from
Samantha Miller and Cenname, and the big-blow in the frame, a three-run bomb off the bat of Delaney.
Sage Jackson came on in relief for the Purple and White, pitching 2.2 innings, allowing two hits and recording a strikeout.
Niagara Notes
• Leone moves to 5-8 on the season.
• Jackson registered her first outing this season without allowing a run.
• Mayo recorded her 16th multi-hit game of the season and has now reached base safely in 36 of 42 games played.
• Moyer recorded her ninth double of the season.
• Delaney's home run was her sixth of the season, while her three RBI gives her 26 on the season.
•
Natasha Limbani recorded two hits, her 12th multi-hit game of the season. She also ended her three-game hitless streak in the win.
• Cenname extended her hit streak to five games.
Up Next
Niagara will close out the regular-season at Mount St. Mary's with a three-game set in Emmitsburg, Md. The Mount and Purple Eagles will play a doubleheader on Friday, May 3 at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m., followed by a 12 p.m. single-game on Saturday, May 4.
Stay connected with Niagara Softball on X, Instagram, and Facebook. Follow Niagara Athletics all year long on X, Instagram, Facebook, and purpleeagles.com.
