POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – The No. 2 seeded Niagara Purple Eagles advanced to the losers bracket final with a 10-3 win over No. 1 Marist in its first game Friday afternoon in Poughkeepsie, but fell to No. 4 Canisius, 6-2, eliminating the Purple and White from the 2024 MAAC Softball Championship.
In its win over Marist, Niagara opened the scoring in the third when
Samantha Hare launched a three-run over the right-centerfield wall bringing home
Selah Moyer and
Lindsay Mayo and giving the Purple Eagles a 3-0 lead over the conference's top-seed.
Niagara would extend its lead in the fifth when Hare, who doubled with one away came around to score on
Brianna Delaney's two-run blast.
An inning later, the Purple Eagle lead would double to 10-0 over Marist as
Maggie Kellner single home a pair of runs and Hare connected on her second three-run home run of the contest.
Hickingbottom, who allowed just one hit through five innings of work, came back out to start the sixth for Niagara. She would allow three runs before being relieved by
Julia Thompson. Thompson pitched the final 1.2 innings, to secure the win and send Niagara to the loser bracket final.
Niagara met rival, and the No. 4 seed of the MAAC Softball Championship, Canisus for its second game of the day.
The Griffs jumped out to a two-run lead in the second and extended it to a 6-0 lead over Niagara by the fourth inning. In the bottom half of the fourth,
Sophia Marrero would double home Niagara's first run of the contest and
Hailey Cenname would drive in the other.
Despite getting a runner on in each of the last two innings, Niagara couldn't make a dent in the Canisius advantage as the Griffs advanced to the MAAC final for the third-straight season with the 6-2 win over Niagara.
Niagara Notes
• Niagara finishes 2024 with 29 wins, second-most in program history.
• Hickingbottom set the single-season record in appearances (39), starts (29), innings pitched (185.0), strikeouts (188), and wins (17).
• Hare became the sixth Purple Eagle in program history to record six RBI in a contest. She finished the season with a career and team-high 34.
• Hare and Moyer each recorded a three-hit game in the win over Marist.
• Mayo recorded her 18th multi-hit game of the season in the win over the Red Foxes.
• Delaney's homer in the win over Marist was her eighth of the season, most by a freshman since Jennifer Yee hit 11 in her 2006 rookie campaign.
• Niagara recorded two games of 10 runs or more in the MAAC Softball Championship after having just one game with 10 or more runs during the regular season.
Stay connected with Niagara Softball on X, Instagram, and Facebook. Follow Niagara Athletics all year long on X, Instagram, Facebook, and purpleeagles.com.
