The Bison took on Saint Francis at home for the last time this week, with the upcoming move for the Red Flash to Division III following this season. The Orange and Blue had their highest-ever total RBIs for a game with 23, breaking the previous record of 20 set in 1981. The second game went to eight innings before the competition was forced to end with a 12-12 tie.
The first game of the match-up had Sarah Zimmerman ’27 in the circle for the first three innings, followed by Mea Consentino ’26 to close out the final two. The first inning saw a walk and 4 singles from Brooke Popella ’27, Meadow Gambacurta ’29, Shea Malone ’27 and Molly Lawson ’27, giving The Bison a 4-0 lead. In the second, the Red Flash returned with two points of their own with no rebuttal from the Orange and Blue.
The third inning was one of the best in Bison history, crossing the plate 16 times . Previous hitters made more plays, with Angelina Seropian ’26 and Reagan Powell ’28 joining them with singles and walks of their own. After a pitching change by the Red Flash, Haley Speicher ’26 was walked, and Barbara Coppola ’29 singled to load the bases. A series of singles, walks and wild pitches brought the score to 13-2 and caused another pitching change for the Red Flash, who only lasted two batters. With more singles and a triple from Coppola, the Orange and Blue ended the inning up 20-2 in just three frames.
With multiple singles and a triple from Nicole Lioumis ’26 , the Bison were able to add five more runs to the board in the fourth inning. The game closed in the fifth with Consentino pitching. The Red Flash were unable to meet the Orange and Blue’s staggering lead, leaving the Bison with a 25-2 victory.
Game two started with Zimmerman pitching before quickly being replaced by Consentino due to injury. The Orange and Blue started off strong once again with a run to second from Speicher, a single with a second base steal from Coppola and a two-run triple from Addison Taft ’29. These plays, along with a walk and a sacrifice fly, brought the score to 4-0 in just the first frame. The Bison added another run in the second.
After no runs being added to the board in the third, the Orange and Blue had a strong fourth inning. Rosanna Merturi ’28 singled and was able to reach second after a wild pitch. Coppola singled to the right, giving both Bison on base an opportunity to score. Popella hit a double through a gap in the field and was able to score after a single from Gambacurta and a throwing error.
Feeling the Orange and Blue pulling away with the lead, the Red Flash came back in the fifth and seventh innings. After loading the bases on a pop-up, a single and a walk, the Red Flash hit a grand slam, giving them their first four points of the match. The Bison were able to load the bases in the fifth as well, but a groundout took away their opportunity to add points to the board. The seventh inning held seven points for SFU to take the lead by just one point.
Coppolas’ walk by a RBI double from Popella forced the game into extra innings with a tied score of 11-11. Each team scored one point before the game was called due to darkness.
The Bison hit the road to Boston to take on Boston University in a three-game series starting tomorrow.
