BOXSCORE - Baruch Game
BOXSCORE - CSI Game

STATEN ISLAND, NY – The Hunter College softball team saw its hopes for a CUNYAC/Applebee's Championship dashed this afternoon as it suffered a toss 2-1 loss against rival Baruch before the College of Staten Island struck late to steal a 4-3 victory in the double-elimination tournament.

The Hawks close out the year with a 14-28 mark overall.

“I'm very proud of the way our girls played today. I thought they played hard and played till the end. Playing the top seed in their house is big but our girls did it and they didn't quit,” said Head Coach Ralph Moroni of Hunter's performance.

Game one against Baruch was a low scoring affair as the Bearcats pulled out a 2-1 victory in a game which saw the Hawks notch just two hits, compared to seven from Baruch. The Hawks played nifty defense when it counted, stranding 10 Bearcats on base.

Angel Iacovetti (9-14) suffered the tough luck loss, throwing seven innings, allowing a pair of runs on seven scattered hits while striking out seven.

Baruch got on board in the first frame after a one-out walk came back to bite the Hawks as the runner went on to score on a RBI groundout, making it a 1-0 ballgame.

An inning later, the Bearcats added another run on a RBI single to take a 2-0 advantage.

The Hawks struck back in the home half as Julia Lipovac—who led off the inning with a single to left, scored on Briana Kresback's fielder's choice to make it a 2-1 game. With bases loaded, and one away, the Hawks seemed poised to add more runs but the Bearcats buckled down and forced two popups to end the threat.

The Bearcats managed to hold the Hawks scoreless across the next four frames to hold onto the 2-1 victory.

Game two was another heartbreaker for the Hawks who led 3-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning.

Hunter struck quickly, scoring in the first inning as Crissette Maxwell led off with a single through the left side. After a sacrifice bunt moved her to second, Maxwell came around to score on a Molly Meehan single through the 5-6 hole to put Hunter ahead, 1-0.

CSI retaliated immediately, tallying a run in the home half of the first on a RBI single up the middle to knot things up 1-1.

The Hawks took advantage of a Dolphin mishap atop the second to plate another run. Freshman Meghan O'Shea led off with a single to left and scored two plays later when KayTee Bauer got on board via the first baseman's error to give Hunter a 2-1 advantage.

The Hawks extended that lead in the fifth, capitalizing on a Dolphin error once again. Maxwell got on base when the second baseman misplayed the ball, a single down the left line followed from Kresback before another fielding error—this on the catcher, put Sophia Ponce on first. O'Shea roped a single up the middle to drive in Maxwell and extend the Hawks lead (3-1) but a costly running error resulted in the Hawks' first out of the frame. CSI caught a big break on the ensuing play as a 5-3 double play ended the inning with Hunter ahead, 3-1.

CSI got both runs back in the home half of the fifth to tie the game up at 3-all. Despite both Dolphin runs scoring Iacovetti entered the game in relief and shut the Dolphins down, stranding  two on base to get out of the inning without further damage.

After hold the Dolphins scoreless in the sixth, Hunter got a runner to second base with just one out but could not score the go ahead run as back to back popups ended the frame.

The Dolphins would however strike in the seventh inning using a one-out walk-off single to claim the 4-3 victory and advance to day two of play.

Amanda Annicaro pitched a good game, limiting the top-seeded Dolphins to just three runs on eight hits across five innings. Iacovetti suffered the loss out of the bullpen, working an inning and a third.